


Lego Bricks And Messy Sheets

by IHaveRuinedMyLife



Series: Lego Bricks And Messy Sheets [1]
Category: GOT7, JJ Project, K-pop
Genre: Comedy, M/M, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Single Parent Im Jaebum | JB
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 13:39:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 60,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15864726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IHaveRuinedMyLife/pseuds/IHaveRuinedMyLife
Summary: Music on full blast, lights dimmed, space pretty limited due to dozens of people crowding in the narrow room of the night club. Breathing got more difficult from second to second as the amount of fake fog got higher and higher but the two men leaning against one of the pillars couldn't care less while being glued to one another by the lips. They hadn't necessarily been looking for this, neither sex nor a relationship, but this night smelled promising...***Im Jaebum, 23 years old, father of the cutest and most bubbly girl around, had almost already given up on ever being sexually active again, working full time as a daddy and part time in a bookshop. But it so happens that falling in love isn't something you do on purpose...Park Jinyoung, 22 years old, is fed up by his roommates keeping him wide-awake late at night, letting him know how great their relationship is in and outside of bed. When one night he gets kicked out of the apartment, he isn't exactly fond of the idea of returning home anytime soon. What he didn't expect was to feel the familiar sting of a Lego brick under his feet just prior to his hook-up...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so... first of all: Hello and thanks for clicking xD
> 
> So this story might be familiar to some of you... I started it on AFF one year ago but since I finished it now, I thought I should put it here as well. I've been told to do so by my readers tbh ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
> 
> For everyone who did not read the story yet: I really hope you'll like it~ ^^
> 
> As always, I wanna thank my favorite dongsaeng Annemarie00 for beta-reading AND for writing this awesome foreword~~ <3 thanks, dongsaeng~ 사랑해 <3
> 
> (I don't own anything except for the story and the wording. Any similarities with other stories (and during the past year, I've come to the conclusion that there's a LOT of quite similar single parent JB stories xD) are pure coincidence ^^)
> 
> ~IHaveRuinedMyLife <3

Jaebum knew that BamBam's idea was stupid. Because BamBam's ideas were always stupid. He didn't even know why he listened to the kid in the first place.

But that's just what he did and eventually, he found himself pressed against the armrest of a sofa, slightly tipsy, being all touchy with some stranger. A boy at that, which he swore would never happen again without thinking twice.

On the other hand.... why not? He's cute and smelling nice. Which is probably what led them to their current state after nothing more but a short, yet nice conversation about the horrible music playing at the club.

“I think... we should take this to another place...” the boy whispered into his ear after a long while of making out like this, his hot breath sending shivers down his spine. Jaebum struggled to hold the half filled cocktail glass in his right hand upright, not wanting to spill the spiced Mai Tai onto them. He didn't even know why he was still holding onto it.

“What place are you thinking about?” The loud music was drowning his slurred question but the boy seemed to understand as he slowly withdrew from hovering over him, letting Jaebum adjust his position and put the bright orange drink onto the small table in front of them. Not before taking another sip, though.

“Actually, I'm here because two of my roommates threw me out for tonight.” he boy said with a cheeky grin on his slightly swollen lips. “Soo...”

In retrospect, Jaebum's mind must've been too clouded to think straight but in that moment, the only logical reaction to the boy's words was to invite him over to his own place.

 

Of course, the place was pitch-dark when they stumbled inside, lips locked, hands roaming all over each other. Their breathing was already beyond the normal level of pace and sound, soft moans slipping out every now and then when Jaebum pushed he boy against the nearest wall. The latter had his leg shoved between Jaebum's, pressing his knee up against his crotch which had the other grinding against him a little, wanting to create more friction.

No words were needed as the boy started to tug onto Jaebum's shirt, wanting to move this to a more comfortable place. Thus, Jaebum guided the boy through the dark place towards his bedroom while not breaking the contact for even a second.

But suddenly, the other let out a loud hiss of pain, jumping to the side and holding his foot.

“What?” Jaebum asked, now clutching the black-haired's waist to prevent him from falling.

“I stepped... onto something.” the other panted, rubbing the hurting area.

“Sorry, I didn't clean the place...” Jaebum breathed before bringing their bodies and lips together again. “You okay?”

“Hmm... it's alright.” the other hummed and let his hands run up the back of Jaebum's neck, running his fingers though his dark, auburn hair.

Jaebum shoved his right foot over the floor, kicking the evil object aside only to notice that there was more of it. As usual. He should've known.

“Hey... let me carry you.” he whispered, lifting the boy up immediately.

“What am I? A kid? I'm not going to call you daddy, just to make things clear from the start.” The other chuckled but hopped up and wrapped his legs around him tightly nonetheless before they proceeded towards the bedroom like that which turned out to be quite a task in their tipsy state. Jaebum stepped onto some of those little, edgy things as well. But he only flinched slightly. His feet were probably used to it by now as it was nothing new at all.

He then pushed the bedroom door open with his shoulder, maneuvering the two of them towards the bed and finally throwing the boy onto the sheets. The latter shuffled a bit backwards, leaning against the headboard to leave more space for Jaebum to crawl on top of him.

“The name's Jinyoung by the way...” the black-haired panted in between their sloppy kisses while shoving his hands underneath Jaebum's shirt as the latter was sitting down on his crotch.

“Jaebum. Nice meeting you.” Jaebum answered in an equally unstable voice. Their crotches were rubbing against each other as they shared a firm kiss, tongues caressing each other in a battle for dominance. Jaebum knew it was mostly the effect of the alcohol that made him feel hot and needy but he also couldn't deny that Jinyoung might not be innocent as well. Though, most of all, he was still blaming BamBam for all of this. For sending him off for a carefree and fun night to let himself go after more than four years, ever since...

“Oh god~” Jinyoung moaned loudly while arching his back, bringing Jaebum back to the steamy reality. He didn't even know when exactly they got completely undressed, how many times they changed positions to find the perfect one, how many times he made Jinyoung come and how many times he himself saw the stars... but again: blame it on the delicious Mai Tai. Or the second. Or maybe the third... and BamBam.

 

***

 

When Jaebum woke up the next morning, he found Jinyoung gone.

Not that he expected it to be otherwise but he couldn't deny the fact that he hoped to see the other one last time in the morning. Maybe it would've helped to prevent himself from feeling a little cheap, hooking up with a stranger on his first night off... even though it wasn't his first ever one night stand... by far. But still, the first in a good while.

His head was feeling heavier than usual due to the aftermaths of the drinks last night but he got up nonetheless. Staying in bed for longer than necessary hasn't been an option for too long to make an exception today.

As usual, he quickly checked his phone to see if there was any message from BamBam, which was indeed the case. It read that BamBam would be there around 10. A quick glance at the time said that Jaebum had half an hour left to take a shower, change the sheets and remove any possible hint of what he's been doing last night.

Yes, he felt horribly cheap now.

Groaning, he shuffled over to the closet, grabbing a towel and some new clothing before he slowly made his way out of the bedroom. Other than his head, the rest of his body felt lighter than ever, making him smile a little. Maybe it wasn't that bad after all... Maybe that's just what he needed.

That's when he stopped in his tracks, hearing some shuffling from the living room. Did BamBam arrive sooner?

But as Jaebum peeked around the corner, he quickly noticed that this wasn't the case.

Much to his surprise, Jinyoung didn't leave at all. Instead, he was sitting on the floor in the living room, dressed in yesterday's clothing (which Jaebum noticed, he didn't pay too much attention to yesterday) while putting some Lego together. When he heard Jaebum entering the room, he looked at him with his left eyebrow lifted. “Whatever you're going to say – I won't believe you that this is a hobby of yours.”

“I didn't know you're still here...” Jaebum stated matter-of-factly, ignoring the topic at hand while Jinyoung put his small Lego house into the pink box next to the couch and got up on his feet.

“I stepped on some Lego again while trying to sneak out. Just wanted to make sure you're not cheating on someone with me...”

Jaebum ran a hand through his tousled hair while the other one was gripping the towel around his waist tightly. “Why would you care?”

“Because that's disgusting... I don't wanna have anything to do with such a thing.” Jinyoung answered with a sigh.

“It's kinda brave to sit in between a load of child's toys to wait for assurance then. Because if I were you, everything would've looked evident enough for me to run.” Jaebum chuckled.

“So?” Jinyoung pressed on the topic, shifting his weight back to both feet as if preparing to leave the apartment as soon as Jaebum confirmed his worries.

“It's fine. I did not cheat on anyone. It's just my daughter and I living here together.” the other said with a deep breath. “Promise.”

Jinyoung's expression softened instantly but then changed into something that Jaebum couldn't read at first. “Good. Would've been a shame to hate you after last night. But uh... I guess I gotta go now.”

“Yeah might be for the best...” Jaebum mumbled, still fumbling with his hair. “Yoonhee shouldn't find some unknown man at our place...”

Jinyoung nodded, taking a few steps backwards towards the door. “Uh-huh... and uh... I also think that this isn't my world here... with all the kid's stuff... How old...?”

“Four.”

“Nice... then... bye I guess... Thanks for the... night.” Jinyoung stammered, the witty personality Jaebum admired last night was gone from one instant to the other as he had his hand on the door-knob already.

“Sure... thank you, too. It was... really nice. Bye.”

With one last hesitant wave, Jinyoung then disappeared from Jaebum's view. The latter stood frozen for a moment, wondering how things turned awkward so fast before his eyes fell onto the clock handing above the kitchen counter. Only fifteen minutes left before BamBam brought Yoonhee back and he still didn't do anything to remove the hints of what happened last night. He quickly rushed to the bathroom, hopping into the shower to wash off all the stickiness from last night, hoping he'd feel a bit more awake afterwards...

 

It was just past ten when Jaebum had his arms filled with the dirty sheets, his nose unintentionally buried into the scent he was so infatuated with only hours ago. But now, he could barely recognize Jinyoung's somewhat addictive scent underneath the strong smell of sex.

Anyways, he froze in his place, the sheets tightly in his embrace, when he heard some keys rustling on the front door before it opened, revealing two smiling faces. One of it dropped the moment he eyed Jaebum, the other went brighter.

“Daddy~~” the little girl beamed, storming into the apartment with a cute, pink bow dancing on top of her head.

“Hey princess.” Jaebum smiled at her before throwing BamBam a short, worried glance. “Let me just put this into the laundry basket, alright?”

BamBam closed the door behind him, put a small pink bag onto the floor before quickly catching up with Yoonhee to stop her from jumping at Jaebum by lifting her up.

“Did the two of you have fun? What did you do?” Jaebum asked while quickly carrying the sheets away.

“We went to the zoo with Yugyeom oppa.” Yoonhee chattered. “We saw big teddy bears and many Bambies and even the Lion King!”

“Woah~ sounds like you've had plenty of fun without me then!” Jaebum laughed, returning to the living room where he crouched down, spreading his arms. BamBam grinned as he released the little girl from his hold and she dashed into her daddy's embrace, hugging him with all her force. “Did you miss me?”

Yoonhee nodded, her little face pressed against Jaebum's shoulder for a moment before she looked up at him again. “You have to come with us next time~”

“Promise.” Jaebum smiled, ruffling her hair which caused the pink bow to slip out of place. “Did BamBam buy you this?”

Again, the girl nodded eagerly.

“She was begging... I couldn't say no.” BamBam laughed, having spread himself on the couch.

Jaebum chuckled, lifting Yoonhee up before sitting beside his friend and pulling her onto his lap. “So you went shopping as well, I see... What else did you do?”

“We played hide and seek in the park and I always found Yugyeom oppa first.” Yoonhee giggled. “And then we watched Frozen before I had to go to bed. It was so funny because Yugyeom oppa knew the songs, too and we could all sing along.”

“You mentioned Yugyeom a lot.” Jaebum laughed.

“She just loves him.” BamBam stated. “But it seems to be mutual. I guess it's because they're the same age... mentally.”

“Look who's talking.” Jaebum stuck out his tongue at his friend who wasn't any better than Yugyeom when it came to childish behavior. One reason why the two of them clicked the moment they met.

“And what did you do, daddy? You must have been bored alone. You didn't have anyone to play with.”

BamBam started laughing, hiding it with a cough which caused him to cough for real, proving Jaebum's point. For a moment, the latter didn't know what to respond.

“It was okay. I was reading a book so I wasn't too bored on my own.” he then said. It wasn't a lie after all. He was indeed reading a book... maybe two pages before leaving for the club.

“Oh what book? Can you read it to me?” Yoonhee asked, her eyes widening. She loved hearing stories, regardless if the understood them completely or not. Jaebum was already half through the third book of Harry Potter, though he's had probably skipped half of it, thinking Yoonhee didn't have to hear some of it yet. She could read it by herself when she was older after all.

“We're still not finished with Harry Potter.” he just said.

“I guess you'll be able to read books on your own pretty soon, Yoonhee.” BamBam stated. “You did great reading the signs at the Zoo.”

“Really? What could you read?” Jaebum asked, feeling the pride already swelling up inside of him as it wasn't a normal thing for a barely four year old to start reading. Only if it's just a little bit.

“I read bear and fox and pig and...” she turned towards BamBam with a questioning look.

“Otter.” he added.

“I see you're on your way to read your first book.” Jaebum laughed, hugging his girl.

“Can I show BamBam my favorite book?” she then asked.

Jaebum lifted her up from his lap. “Of course you can.”

With that, Yoonhee hopped towards BamBam, grabbing his hand to pull him with her towards her room.

Once they were out of sight, Jaebum let his still pounding head fall against the backrest of the couch while heaving out a sigh. He really shouldn't have drunk so much.

 

About ten minutes later, BamBam came back to the living room with a bright grin on his face.

“Okay hyung. What happened yesterday? Tell me all the juicy details.”

The other quickly woke up from his half-asleep state. “Where's Yoonhee?”

“In her room, playing with her Frozen dolls. I closed the door, don't worry.”

Jaebum sighed again. “I just went to the club and had a few drinks...”

“Aaaand~? C'mon hyung, I took Yoonhee so you can have a free night and... maybe get laid and seeing that you were indeed changing the sheets earlier.....” BamBam wiggled his eyebrows, waiting for Jaebum to tell him the whole story.

The latter couldn't help but laugh at his curious younger friend. “Okay yes, I've had some. His name's Jinyoung.”

“Woah! A boy! What did he look like? Will you see him again?”

“Hold your horses, kid. He was strikingly good-looking...” Jaebum chuckled. “But I probably won't meet him again. He wasn't so keen on finding the Lego in the living room. Plus, I can't afford seeing someone... It would be too hard to explain it to Yoonhee. So it's okay like this.”

BamBam nodded, patting his friend's shoulder. “You know man, if you ever need some alone time nonetheless, I'm glad to help you out. I admit I was kinda worried yesterday if I can take care of Yoonhee by myself for more than half an hour... but I guess it worked out quite well.”

“Yeah because you're the same age... mentally.” Jaebum laughed, ruffling BamBam's blonde hair. “No for real, I wouldn't have given Yoonhee to you if I didn't trust you on this one. Thanks for having her, man.”

“No problem. You getting laid was worth it.” BamBam said with a wink.

 


	2. Chapter 2

“No way!!” YoungJae gasped while Mark just let out a soft “Oh!” followed by a loud “Whooop~” from Jackson.

“I don't even know how old he is... but I was sure he's around my age.” Jinyoung sighed.

“Well that's not impossible. People have kids with sixteen so I don't see a problem with him having one with... let's say twenty. Would make him twenty-four now which is just a year older than I am. That's actually super legit.” Jackson pointed out.

“Nah... I dunno... I mean sure you _can_ have kids with twenty but why would you _want_ to? Like... I can't imagine having to take care of another human being before I reached at least twenty-eight or something. Still not, to be honest... I doubt that I could ever.” Jinyoung continued to think out loud, curled up on the sofa between his three best friends while frequently grabbing into the popcorn bowl.

“Who knows... that might change the moment you find the person you want to be with for the rest of your life...” Mark mumbled, also popping a piece of popcorn into his mouth.

“Are you telling me you want kids now, Markie?” Jackson joked.

“Ah shut up.” the other said lowly but nobody heard him as YoungJae started babbling again.

“If it calms you down, I can't imagine any of us raising a child. But on the other hand, I've always thought how funny it would be, if we all had our own families, living in the same street and having our children grow up together, just like we two did.”

“Boys, things are getting a bit cheesy in here.” Jinyoung groaned. “All I did was telling you that I hooked up with a single dad yesterday and freaked out a bit.”

“Yeah but why? I don't get your point.” Jackson said. “You said he was sexy. You said he was good in bed... If I were you, I wouldn't have left him right away.”

“He has a kid at home!” Jinyoung piped in. “With a kid, there is no such a thing like privacy. But why are we even talking about it? It's not like I'm going to see him ever again. That's why it's called a one night stand.”

“If you say so...” Jackson said, shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth which caused a rare occasion of him being silent for more than a minute.

“I get what Jinyoung is trying to say.” YoungJae then said. “The problem is, that being a single father at such a young age must have some background story.”

“Thanks, YoungJae.” Jinyoung nodded.

“Meaning?” Mark wondered.

“First of all, it's rare to have a child this early. Especially a planned one. And what kind of guy would get a girl pregnant by accident? It just means he's not really careful and that's not a trait you want your partner to have.” YoungJae explained.

Mark shook his head. “But those things can happen. You can't judge a person by something like this. Maybe it's not his fault but he girl's.”

“It takes two to tango. And even if not, where is the girl then?” YoungJae asked.

“Who knows... maybe there's a tragic story behind all of that...” Jackson countered.

Again, Jinyoung let out a groan while rubbing his popcorn-smelling hands over his face.

“As I told you, this conversation is completely irrelevant. Jaebum has a daughter and I am a free man.”

“Sure you are.” Jackson laughed. “That's why you're still bothering your head about him.”

“I told you he was sexy, giving me the best orgasm ever and yes, I admit that I low-key hoped he's just having a little sister when I found all the toys in the living room but...”

“Would this make a difference?” Mark asked wide-eyed.

“Gosh I don't even know...” Jinyoung sighed.

“If you were to ask me, I'd advise you to see him again. It must be hard to find sexual release as a single dad... and who knows, you might be his knight in shining amor, filling him up after such a long time.” Jackson sing-sang.

“He topped.” Jinyoung dead-panned.

“Too much information~” YoungJae squeaked, pressing his palms against his ears as the other two started chuckling.

“At least try to find him and get his phone number... I think it's totally unreasonable to let him down because he's got a child.”

“I didn't let him down!” Jinyoung protested. “He was about to throw me out anyway. Saying his daughter doesn't need to see a stranger at their place.”

At that, Jackson and Mark just rolled their eyes to the sound of YoungJae munching some more popcorn.

 

***

 

“Daddy~” Yoonhee sang, tugging on the leg of her father's light blue jeans. “Can I have some gummy bears?”

Jaebum sighed, crouching down next to the little girl, one hand still settled on the shopping cart while the other was fixing her slightly tangled dress. “Which gummy bears do you want, princess?”

“Can we have a look? I will decide then.” Yoonhee grinned, making Jaebum roll his eyes in amusement.

“But you always take like forever to decide.” he laughed, getting back up again.

Yoonhee grabbed his hand while shaking her head eagerly, making the pink bow slide down her black hair a bit. “I promise to be quick today.”

Jaebum reached out to fix the bow to prevent it from falling before he let his daughter drag him towards the well-stocked gummy bear offer of the local supermarket. Seeing all these different brands, he immediately regretted giving in on the excited little girl. He should learn more about strict parenting... someday.

“Look, daddy! There's Elsa on it.”

“Is there even anything where Elsa is _not_ on?” Jaebum laughed, rather to himself while looking around the place. Some elderly women were looking at them curiously, which he was used to. Father and daughter going for grocery shopping wasn't a regular thing after all – at least in the eyes of those ladies. But then, his smile dropped as he suddenly met a pair of familiar eyes staring at him as well.

“I had these with BamBam and Yugyeom.” Yoonhee pointed at another brand. Jaebum just hummed in response, throwing it a quick glance before turning around again. But Jinyoung was gone.

Jaebum shook his head, giving his attention back to Yoonhee. “Then why don't you take these?”

“Will you buy it for me?”

“Of course.” Jaebum smiled again while reaching for the packet. Though, not without looking around once more. He then threw the packet into the shopping cart. “I guess that's it then. We've got everything.”

Yoonhee clapped her hands as they made their way to the check-stand where Jaebum started to put everything onto the conveyor.

But when he looked up again, his eyes met Jinyoung's once more. The latter was standing just behind them in the lane, holding a bottle of coke and a packet of cheese nachos. He threw Jaebum a slight, almost shy smile which the other couldn't help but copy.

“Daddy can I have a sticker?” Yoonhee then asked, pointing at the said, overpriced items being presented next to the cashier counter, bringing her father back to treality.

“Not today, princess. Sorry.” Jaebum quickly said, putting his hand on top of her head to guide her away from all the tempting offers. Looking back to Jinyoung, the latter's smile has disappeared. Instead, he was fumbling with the cap of the bottle he was holding, staring at it absentmindedly.

Jaebum eyed the amount of things he was about to buy, then he looked back at Jinyoung. “Wanna go first?”

Jinyoung jerked his head back up, staring at Jaebum in surprise. “Uh... thanks.” he mumbled, squeezing himself though the small gap between Jaebum's shopping cart and the next check-stand to put his two items onto the conveyor before Jaebum's.

“Why did you let the man go first?” Yoonhee wondered, her fingers clawing the grid of the shopping-cart as she looked at Jinyoung just as wide-eyed as the latter looked at her.

Jaebum was quick to remove Yoonhee's fingers from the cart before anything stupid could happen and pulled her closer to himself until the was leaning against his legs. “Because he doesn't want to buy as much as we do. So he doesn't have to wait that long.”

Yoonhee leaned her head back to look up at her daddy with a grin. “This is nice.”

Jaebum smiled back at her, letting his fingers run through her hair.

“Aww~ is this your little sister? She's so cute~” the cashier suddenly squealed, leaning over the counter while handing Jinyoung the receipt without looking at him.

“No he is my daddy.” Yoonhee smiled brightly, clutching Jaebum's hands tightly.

“Oh really? He looks so young~” the cashier squealed even louder as Jinyoung grabbed his things and turned to leave. But soon, he stopped in his tracks, looking back at Jaebum who was just paying for his purchase while Yoonhee struggled to get it back from the counter into the cart which were both bigger than herself.

“Here, you can take these stickers for free. Because you're too adorable~” the cashier said with a smile, giving the little girl a hand full before looking up at her father. “Now that I take a closer look... it's obvious that she's your daughter. She has your eyes. But her mother must be a beautiful woman, too.”

Jinyoung could see Jaebum's lips forming a thin line as he tried to keep his smile.

“Yeah...” Jaebum mumbled, putting his credit card back into his wallet. “Thanks for the stickers. Have a nice day.”

“Thanks, come again.”

“Bye bye~” Yoonhee waved at the woman as the two of them left the check-stand.

Jinyoung stood still in his place, frozen, still staring at Jaebum and the little girl.

“Hey.” he then said, not even knowing when his mouth started to work on its own. Jaebum looked at him, a bit surprised that the other would actually talk to him again.

“Uh... hey.”

“How are you?” he felt Yoonhee staring at him again, mouth open while tightening her grip onto her father's hand. But that's only until Jaebum guided her a bit to the side.

“Yoonhee princess... why don't you have a look at the stickers the woman gave to you?” he said in a calm voice, petting her head before lifting her up onto one of the tables standing next to the exit for the customers to sort their purchase.

“Okay~” the girl sang, spreading around ten packed stickers onto the surface.

Jaebum sighed and leaned his back against the table right next to her.

“She's... cute.” Jinyoung mumbled, crossing his arms in front of his chest and leaning beside him while not daring to look at the other. Jaebum hummed in response, also staring straight ahead. Outsiders probably didn't think they were in a conversation at all.

“Didn't expect to run into you here, actually.” Jaebum then stated, a hint of amusement in his voice, which caused Jinyoung to relieve a bit of the tension he didn't know was spreading all over his body.

“Me neither. But I usually come here.”

“So do we.”

Jinyoung nodded, taking a deep breath. “Maybe we met before... we just didn't know.”

“Yeah, maybe...” Jaebum smiled softly.

“Daddy, look! I have two stickers with a reindeer on it. And one sticker with a cow and one sticker with a duck.” Yoonhee grinned happily, waving some of the now unpacked stickers in front of Jaebum's face. The latter took it, looking through the animal pictures.

“What a nice cashier to gift you these.” he said with a smile before handing it back to the little girl. “Do you wanna start collecting them? We could get you a sticker album then.”

“Yes, yes, yes~” Yoonhee cheered. “My friends always bring their sticker albums to the kindergarten. Minah has also one with animals. I want to have one, too.”

“Hey, erm... Jaebum?” Jinyoung then said, now staring down onto is feet.

Jaebum, whose attention was still with Yoonhee, pointed at some of the still unpacked stickers, telling her to look at it as well before he finally turned to look at Jinyoung.

“Uhm... how about exchanging numbers? Maybe it's less awkward the next time we meet here.” the latter suggested before biting his lower lips nervously.

“Uh... sure.” Jaebum shrugged, fishing for his phone and handing it to Jinyoung who gave him his in exchange. Both typed their numbers in silence before it was interrupted by Yoonhee again.

“What animal is this?” she asked, showing another sticker towards Jaebum. He gave Jinyoung his phone back, stuffing his own back into his pocket.

“This is a Red Panda.” he explained. “They live in China, I think...”

“It's so cute~” Yoonhee squealed. “But it doesn't look like a panda...”

Jinyoung pushed himself away from the table they were leaning at, nodding at Jaebum before heading towards the exit. Jaebum nodded back at him before going back to look at the rest of the stickers with Yoonhee.

 

***

 

Jinyoung was lying awake on his bed, staring at the ceiling. His phone felt a bit heavy on his chest but he didn't bother to shove it aside as he was too concentrated on ignoring the sounds coming from the other side of the wall. He didn't even know why he ever thought, living with his best friends would be a good idea. Maybe it would have worked if it wasn't for Mark and Jackson discovering their feelings for each other... or whatever they might call it.

Then, suddenly, there was a soft knock on his bedroom door.

“Hmm~” he hummed, allowing YoungJae to enter the room, closing the door behind him.

“I can't take them anymore...” the younger gestured towards Jackson's room. “I don't get why they warn us on other days while they surprise us the rest of the time?”

“Are you really surprised?” Jinyoung chuckled.

YoungJae shook his head. “Nope... but I hope you get what I mean. Actually, I just came here to tell you that I'm heading out now.”

“Where are you going?”

“Believe it or not but remember the cute girl I met at Starbucks last week? She asked me for a date. We're going to the movies and then... we'll see where it takes us.”

Jinyoung sat up on his bed, his phone sliding down onto his lap. “Have fun then. I suggest you to spend the night at hers if you're up for it. Otherwise our MarkSon couple might scare her away.”

Laughing out loud, YoungJae turned to leave the room again with a quick wave of his hand. “Bye. Be strong.”

“Thanks.” Jinyoung answered sarcastically before letting himself fall back onto the mattress. He reached for his phone which had slipped underneath his thigh and unlocked it. First, he was randomly scrolling though Twitter and Instagram, only to face the usual, not so important tweets and pictures about other peoples' lives. He was just about to put his phone aside, when he received a message from YoungJae on Kakao.

 

_ From: YoungJae _

_I forgot to tell you that there's some leftover of my mom's home-made tteokbokki in the fridge. In case you're hungry, feel free to eat it ^^_

 

_ To: YoungJae _

_Thanks ^^ Let's just hope that I'll be the first to find it there._

 

_ From: YoungJae _

_There's my name on it. The other two shouldn't touch it_ _ㅋㅋㅋㅋ_

 

_ To: YoungJae _

_sounds good. Still, I'm kinda worried now >.< but it seems like they're still at it... it should be save for the next thirty minutes._

 

_ From: YoungJae _

_eww~ no need to update me on that >~<_

 

Again, Jinyoung chuckled, closing his chat with YoungJae. He then scrolled down his chat-list to see whether someone had a new, interesting profile picture.

The one that caught his eye was a picture he has, indeed, never seen before. It wasn't one of his friends' new pictures though. Instead, it was the latest addition to his contact list. He quickly clicked on it to enlarge the picture of Jaebum with a slightly darker red hair color than the one he's seen him with. The latter had a bright smile on his face that reached his eyes, making the difference between his left, closed eye and his right, barely opened one almost invisible. But that was only the right half of the picture. Jinyoung couldn't help but smile, looking at the little girl pressing a kiss onto Jaebum's left cheek. Her black hair was reaching to her chin while it was decorated with a light blue bow. The picture was really, undeniably cute, Jinyoung had to admit. But that's when he remembered the night he spent with the handsome male on the screen he's holding, blushing a bit at the thought. He also remembered what Jackson had said about how Jaebum might struggle to find some release while having to take care of a small human being and he couldn't help but wonder how often he had the chance to go out and have some fun on his own.

Then again... that's why Jinyoung himself didn't even think about having children yet. Let alone someone to settle down with or even a relationship. So in some way, it was Jaebum's own fault to end up like that, wasn't it? Thinking about that, he heard Mark talking about how it is also possible that he's been played with and or worse.

The screen of his phone went black so he clicked the home-button again, looking at the picture of father and daughter for a few more seconds before closing it and entering the chatroom with Jaebum.

 

_To: Jaebum_

_Hey erm... it's me, Jinyoung. What are you doing right now?_

 

He then locked his phone, put it back on top of his chest and went back to staring at the ceiling. Luckily, Mark and Jackson have phased it down by now, giving Jinyoung more space to think until he suddenly remembered Mrs. Choi's tteokbokki, causing him to jump up, catch his phone and run out of his room, towards the fridge in the kitchen.

 


	3. Chapter 3

It was around eight and Jaebum was sitting in front of the TV, though he was not really paying attention. Instead, he was flipping through the pages of the third Harry Potter book, marking the parts he should leave out when reading for Yoonhee.

But suddenly, said little girl shuffled into the living room, hugging her favorite stuffed animal, which was a white rabbit she was given by BamBam for her first birthday. At least it was white back then but Yoonhee refused to let Jaebum put it into the washing machine. So all he could do was washing it with a bit water and soap which didn't really help at all.

“I can't sleep.” she mumbled before Jaebum could even ask what she was doing outside her room at that time. He closed the book and put it aside.

“Why? Is something bothering you?” he wondered while she climbed up onto his lap. Jaebum wrapped his arms around her securely, pressing a soft kiss on top of her head.

“No. I can't sleep because I'm not tired.” Yoonhee stated, looking up at Jaebum with her big, dark eyes. “Mr. Rabbit can't sleep as well. Can you read Harry Potter for us?”

“But I read so much before. You really have to go to bed, princess.” he said while reaching for the remote, turning off the television.

“But we want to hear a bit more.” she begged, wiggling a bit in Jaebum's hold to find the most comfortable postion.

Chuckling, Jaebum shook his head. “You won't accept a no anyways, am I right?”

“We can only sleep when you read for us. Mr. Rabbit said that, too.”

“Seems like I don't have a choice.” Jaebum laughed, lifting Yoonhee up from his lap to settle her down right beside him before he grabbed the book again.

Yoonhee shifted as close as possible, cuddling up to her daddy without loosening the hold onto her plush rabbit a single bit. Jaebum crossed his legs, settled the book on his knee, putt an arm around his little girl and started to read.

 

It took around five pages until Yoonhee had drifted into dreamland. Jaebum closed the book without making a single noise and put it aside. Then, he waited for a moment, listening to Yoonhee's deep breathing to make sure she's fast asleep before he carefully lifted her up, pulling her back onto his lap so that she could rest her head on his chest comfortably. Only the rabbit dropped in the process but Jaebum was quick to prevent it from rolling down to the floor. Not that it would've made a difference since this stuffed animals had surely touched more floors than some of Yoonhee's shoes. And not all of them were semi-clean living room floors.

Jaebum tightened his hold on the small girl and stood up, carrying her to her room to put her back to bed. He put the covers over her, laid the rabbit next to her and pressed another kiss onto her forehead before leaving the room in complete silence.

When he was back in the living room, he saw his phone blinking. He reached for it, unlocking the screen while throwing himself onto the couch again.

Seeing that it was a message from Jinyoung, he gasped slightly in surprise. He didn't think the latter would text him that early.

 

_ From: Jinyoung _

_Hey erm... it's me, Jinyoung. What are you doing right now?_

 

Jaebum thought for a moment of what to answer.

Earlier, when they met at the supermarket, he could clearly sense how awkward Jinyoung felt, seeing him with Yoonhee. And truth to be told, Jaebum was completely fine with that. He knew that most people of his age couldn't imagine having children and thus, were complete aliens when it came to interact with them. He knew that having a child was the “flaw” that made him undateable but it didn't bother him. As long as he was with Yoonhee, everything was alright. Keeping up with a relationship would be way too stressful.

Coming to that, why was he thinking about what to answer then? Jinyoung knew that Jaebum's life was ruled by Yoonhee. After all, he was the one to chase Jinyoung out because he feared that Yoonhee might see him.

 

_ To: Jinyoung _

_Hey. I just brought Yoonhee to bed. What about you?_

 

The immediate answer almost surprised him.

 

_ From: Jinyoung _

_Oh. Isn't it a bit late for that? I remember being stuffed into bed somewhere between six and seven_ ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

_ From: Jinyoung _

_And I'm eating home-made tteokbokki by my friend's mom while listening to my room-mates' post sex talk._

 

He couldn't help but laugh, picturing the scene that could've been in a comedy movie.

 

_ To: Jinyoung _

_What a creep!_

 

_ To: Jinyoung _

_Yoonhee was wandering around again so I had to bring her to bed for a second time_ _ㅋㅋㅋㅋ_

 

_ From: Jinyoung _

_I'm not a creep! They're just too loud >.< btw I'm really sorry for being so awkward that morning and even earlier when we met... I just really don't know how to deal with kids._

 

_ To: Jinyoung _

_I figured. But don't worry about that. I'm used to that kind of reaction..._

 

_ From: Jinyoung _

_still... it's just unfair to react like that and I'm sorry. It's unfair to behave the way I did just because you're raising a child. I bet that's a load of hard work I can't even imagine._

 

Jaebum read through this more than once. He didn't expect Jinyoung to say or rather write those words after going so far to ignore him after their first eye contact at the supermarket.

 

_ To: Jinyoung _

_thanks for understanding... indeed it's not easy but I think I'm doing quite good ^^ at least, she never complained._

 

_ From: Jinyoung _

_ㅋㅋㅋㅋ_ _how old are you btw?_

 

_ To: Jinyoung _

_23, you?_

 

_ From: Jinyoung _

_really?! I'm 22... and having children is so far from where I'm standing at... o.O_

 

_ From: Jinyoung _

_Where is her mother?_

 

_ To: Jinyoung _

_Believe me... the thought was as far for me when I was 19..._

 

_ To: Jinyoung _

_As for her mother... I rather not talk about this via kakao..._

 

After typing these words, Jaebum stared at their conversation in surprise. His last statement was like a total invitation for another meeting, of which he didn't know if he was ready for it or not. After all, their last two conversations in real life had been absolutely uncomfortable. But then again, texting with Jinyoung didn't feel weird at all. It was almost like when they were in the club, they clicked immediately, starting a conversation about their music taste which went further than normal small talk, let alone what followed after that but that was to blame on the alcohol. Mostly.

Jinyoung seemed to think as well since he didn't answer as quickly as he did before. But then, another message appeared.

 

_ From: Jinyoung _

_Why don't we meet up again? Because I really wanna know. Just tell me whenever you're... free again._

 

Jaebum took a deep breath.

 

_ To: Jinyoung _

_Alright ^^ I'll text you then_

 

_ From: Jinyoung _

_sounds good :) see ya~_

 


	4. Chapter 4

“I'm actually super glad you didn't ask for dinner at my place...” Jinyoung chuckled before sipping on his water glass while the waiter was carrying their empty plates away. “Because I wouldn't have known how to excuse my room-mates.”

“Why? Are they always that... loud?” Jaebum grinned.

Jinyoung nodded. “Yeah... let's put it that way. But don't get me wrong. I love them.”

“How many room-mates do you have?”

“My three best friends. Mark and Jackson, the newly-weds and YoungJae who' still wandering, just like me. I grew up with him since my sisters used to babysit him but I feel like I've known Mark and Jackson for just as long, even though they only came to Korea about six years ago.”

“So they're foreigners?”

“Yep. Jackson is from Hong Kong and Mark from LA... but even he himself forgets that he's a foreigner sometimes.” Jinyoung chuckled.

“Newly-weds though...” Jaebum laughed. “They're not actually married, are they?”

“Nope... but they behave like they're on honeymoon. For moths already. Sometimes they chase us out, like last weekend... sometimes they just don't... like on Thursday. Don't ask me what's the difference then. I might not wanna know.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Maybe for them.” Jinyoung hissed. “Anyways... I didn't come to talk about my people. What about you? What are you doing?”

“I'm just working part-time at a bookstore and full-time as Yoonhee's dad.”

Jinyoung's eyes widened. “How do you pay for living?”

“Let's say I've had some savings because of my parents... and my boss knows about my situation. He pays an unspeakable amount of money compared to my working times... I don't even know whether it's illegal or not. But my colleagues better shouldn't know about it.”

“Oh.” Jinyoung grinned. “Then I hope that nobody finds out.”

“I hope that, too. So please don't gossip around.”

Chuckling, Jinyoung shook his head. “Don't worry. Your secret is safe.”

“Thanks. So... what are your doing?”

“I'm studying performing arts at Seoul National University, just like my friends. But I don't know what to do afterwards... I just don't wanna think about it yet. I mean I still have plenty of time, though.”

Jaebum smiled. “My friend BamBam is also studying performing arts. But he's attending another university.”

“Really? Maybe I'll get to know him some day. He's the reason we met if I got it correctly, right?”

“He is.” Jaebum nodded. “He talked me into everything, saying I really needed a day off.”

“Do you think he's right?” Jinyoung wondered.

Sighing, Jaebum shrugged. “I can't tell. Spending time with Yoonhee is the most normal thing for me. I feel like I'm missing something while she's gone but at the same time, it's good to talk freely and... well... get some alone time.”

“It's the same with my friends.” Jinyoung laughed. “I love them but having the apartment for myself feels good once in a while. But that happens close to never.”

Jaebum nodded, knowing exactly what Jinyoung meant. “And still, I'm spending my second free night out again.”

“It's only half past nine. That's not exactly called night.” Jinyoung stuck out his tongue before emptying his glass.

“Sorry... but my daily rhythm is adjusted to a four years old.” Jaebum laughed with an apologetic tone in his voice. “There are days where I go to bed at nine. It's rare but it happened before.”

“Oh my god!” Jinyoung exclaimed, laughing as well. “It's not even dark outside at that time.”

“I know~” Jaebum whined a bit. “But I got used to it over the years.”

“So you gotta go home soon and go to bed?” Jinyoung teased him with a smirk but Jaebum shook his head, now laughing again.

“BamBam won't bring Yoonhee back before noon so I can sleep in tomorrow.”

“Because last Sunday morning was so hectic?” Jinyoung was still smirking.

Jaebum, who got the hint, couldn't help but let out a slightly nervous laughter before shaking his head. “No he's taking her to lunch with his boyfriend's parents. Since that's the closest they'll ever come to a grandchild.”

“That's kinda cute.” Jinyoung smiled.

“And Yoonhee gets some mom-cooked food. She's never had that before.” Jaebum added.

“Do you know how to cook?”

“Let's say I've improved over the years. When Yoonhee started to eat with me I was forced to stop having ramen and pizza only.” the auburn-haired laughed. “So I learned how to cook a few basic things and at least, Yoonhee never complained. Don't know whether it'll still be that way starting from tomorrow.”

“Now I'm actually curious. We should've just eaten at yours today.” Jinyoung grinned, only to have Jaebum shaking his head quickly, which made him laugh again.

“We should pay and leave soon... otherwise we'll be forced to drink more.” the latter then said, looking at the waiters who were already staring at them impatiently, waiting for them to leave so that their table was available again.

“Sure. I'll pay.” Jinyoung announced, grabbing his wallet and calling a waiter.

“You can totally forget about that.” Jaebum scoffed, taking his wallet as well. “I invited you here so it's my treat.”

“Only if you cook for me sometime.” Jinyoung dealt.

“Whatever.” Jaebum shrugged, handing his card to the waiter.

 

The sun hasn't set down when they stepped out of the restaurant but the slightly orange light hinted the upcoming sunset already.

“So and you're saying you can stay up for a bit longer?” Jinyoung asked, fixing the collar of his long, beige summer coat while glancing at the elder boy.

“Well...” Jaebum started, pretending to think as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his light blue, ripped jeans. He was looking down onto his feet, shifting a bit from side to side before lifting his gaze up to Jinyoung again. “Wanna come over for a bit?”

Chuckling, Jinyoung nodded. “I was hoping for that.”

“What... did you have in mind?” Jaebum laughed at that as he started walking down the street with Jinyoung following him.

“Oh nothing specific.” the other mumbled before they fell silent for a moment. But the silence wasn't as awkward anymore. It felt better now that they knew more about each other. Yet, Jinyoung was burning to know one more thing.

“Hey, uhm... Can I ask you why... I mean what happened... that you're raising her alone?”

Jaebum looked up from the ground and towards the other. “That's actually a pretty... difficult story...” he started with a hesitant tone in his voice. “As you might've guessed, I was dating a girl back then but one day I started crushing on a boy, a senior from school, and I told her about it to be fair. I was seventeen at that time... She didn't want to believe me that I fell for another guy and... yeah and that's how we came to the certain point on her eighteenth birthday. She wanted to... _convince_ me... that she's the better choice. Then she... _accidentally_ ripped the only condom we've had... But I wasn't all too worried... you know... because she said she's taking the pill. Anyways, I still broke up with her about two months later as the guy and I... _had gotten closer_ during that time. That day she dropped the bomb to me so of course I promised to help her out. I didn't see her often when she was pregnant, though... After she admitted that she planned everything in hopes she wouldn't lose me to a guy, she cut contact with me... out of embarrassment I guess. Only when Yoonhee was born, she came back to me, asking me for help because she was totally overwhelmed. But before we could think of a solution together, she went to the US to start her studies and has never been heard of again, leaving me alone with Yoonhee who was not older than a month. I was nineteen.”

Jinyoung gaped at Jaebum, not knowing what to say for a good while. It took him a moment before he could grasp the story. “And what about your parents? Her parents?”

“Her parents were living abroad and never really cared about her. As for my parents... I see them sometimes but our relationship isn't the best after they heard about the whole story... me fooling around with another boy and still having an unwanted child and stuff... Yet, they helped me out with money when I didn't have a job and they're still paying for our apartment.”

“What's with the other boy?”

Jaebum shrugged. “He was gone the moment he heard about me becoming a father.”

“Do you regret anything?” Jinyoung asked. He then bit his lip.

Jaebum hesitated for a moment but shook his head eventually. “I wouldn't want to miss Yoonhee. And looking back, I'm glad that her mother left us. I don't know if I'd been able to peacefully cooperate with her for a long time. She was too selfish, obviously. Of course, things could've been a bit more... _fortunate..._ but at the end of the day, I can't imagine another way of life. Though, I'm scared of the moment I have to tell Yoonhee the truth...”

Jinyoung was still a bit lost for words so he decided not to ask any more questions.

“I'm sorry for dropping the whole thing onto you...” Jaebum then laughed, kicking a stone aside that was laying on the street.

“No... no that's perfectly fine. I asked for it, remember?” the black-haired said, giving him a reassuring smile. “I'm really impressed how you're keeping up with all that. You must really love Yoonhee, right?”

The elder nodded. “As cheesy as it may sound but yes, she's my everything.”

Again, Jinyoung smiled. “So you really raised her on your own... with changing diapers and stuff like that?”

At that, Jaebum had to laugh. “Yes. And stuff like that.”

“Wow. I still can't believe that you're only a bit older than I am.” Jinyoung chuckled. “I don't even know what a diaper looks like from close up... let alone how to change it.”

“And I'm already through with that... Now thinking of it... it's really... _extreme_. The difference...”

“I mean... I never planned on having kids... how so, with a boyfriend? But I still think that changing diapers is something everyone has to do at least once in his life, don't you think?”

“Nah... you asked me about what I regret earlier... I think that might be the lack of respect I had before the first time I did that.”

Now it was Jinyoung's time to laugh out loud. “What?”

“You know... I never expected such a tiny person to smell like that.”

Jinyoung scrunched up his nose. “Eww okay. Maybe I'll overthink my bucket list again.”

Jaebum started laughing even more. “That one shouldn't be on it.”

“Okay I'll scratch it.” Jinyoung said the moment they arrived in front of Jaebum's house. “But I have one more quite personal question for you... Are you playing for... you know... both teams?”

The other was still chuckling, looking at Jinyoung again while unlocking the front door to the building. “I've had bad experiences with both, obviously... But also a few good ones. So yeah, looks like a tie.”

“Interesting...” Jinyoung mumbled as they were walking up the stairs. “If I were you, I'd have never touched a woman again.”

“I didn't.” Jaebum simply stated, which had the other biting his lips. Seventeen-year-old Jaebum must've been quite a player, he thought. When the elder unlocked the door to his apartment, Jinyoung caught himself staring at him. His pierced ears, the reddish brown dyed hair, the black leather jacket with the white t-shirt underneath... Bringing that together with his thoughts was creating a new but absolutely logical image of Im Jaebum. If it wasn't for his daughter, he would've been a total player or maybe even someone people would call a bad boy...

Only when his lip started to hurt from all the biting, Jinyoung came back to reality.

“Where were you just now?” Jaebum asked with amusement in his voice. “You looked like you were in deep thoughts, biting your lower lip like that.”

“Not really...” Jinyoung shrugged, trying to hide the expression of feeling caught as he hung his coat on the hook.

“Wanna drink something?” the elder offered, walking to the kitchen.

“Something with alcohol, please.” Jinyoung chuckled.

Jaebum pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, thinking for a moment. “Cough syrup?”

Laughing, Jinyoung followed him to the kitchen, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “What's the alcohol percentage of that?”

“Not much... I've got some with a low percentage. I mean I give it to my four-year-old. But I guess it's enough to get drunk.” Jaebum laughed before opening the fridge, pulling out two bottles of beer from somewhere deep down of it. “My last ones, though. I usually don't drink. If you want more, you gotta go to the convenience store down the street.”

“Nah... this will do. I didn't plan on getting drunk today.” Jinyoung grinned while opening the bottle with the opener Jaebum had handed him.

The elder leaned beside him against the kitchen counter, taking a pull on the bottle before looking at him with a bright smile. “Yeah... might be better.”

“But don't think that getting horny is my number one drunk habit. Usually it's not.”

“It's not mine, either.” Jaebum laughed. “I guess it was just...”

“Just what?” Jinyoung gulped down more of the slightly bitter liquid before looking back at Jaebum with his right eyebrow lifted.

“You might have guessed but I haven't slept with anyone since Yoonhee's with me. Never. Once.”

Laughing, Jinyoung pushed himself away from the counter again, now standing in front of the auburn-haired. “So you just jumped the first guy you met?”

“That's not what I'm saying.” Jaebum defended himself quickly before taking another gulp.

“What's it then?” The younger took one more sip as well before he stepped a bit closer towards Jaebum, putting his bottle onto the counter behind him.

Jaebum reacted by wrapping his arms around the other's waist, resting them on his hips. The bottle was still in his grip, now slightly brushing against the younger's butt. Jinyoung smirked at that, bringing his fingers up to the back of the elder's neck, playing with his hair.

Jaebum shivered a bit since Jinyoung's hands were cold from the beer bottle. He took a deep breath. “Okay yes, might've been a good amount of sexual frustration...” he then laughed. “But please don't think you're just the first available. Call it a fortunate coincidence that we met there.”

Chuckling, Jinyoung leaned even closer so that their faces were only inches apart. “Guess I'm okay with that.”

Jaebum smiled before he kissed the black-haired on his full lips. It was a bit hesitant at first but as soon as Jinyoung moved along, things got a bit deeper and before they could fully register what's happening, Jinyoung was sitting on the dining table, legs wrapped around Jaebum's waist. The still half-filled bottles now both discarded on the counter.

“I really thought this night would end differently.” the elder snickered between their long kisses.

“Did you really?” Jinyoung wondered, tightening the grip his legs were having on the other's body. “But you started it.”

Jaebum's hands were now resting on the younger's spread thighs. “I just kissed you. I didn't have any more intentions.”

“Sure.” Jinyoung scoffed before pressing his lips against Jaebum's again. The elder rubbed small circles onto Jinyoung's legs with his thumbs.

“At least we definitely know it's not the alcohol this time.”

“Uh-huh...” Jinyoung nodded, shifting closer to the edge of the table to create a greater friction between their clothed crotches. Jaebum let out a sharp breath at that, sucking a bit on Jinyoung's lower lip in a slightly teasing way. The latter closed his eyes as an almost silent moan escaped his throat that had Jaebum smiling a bit. Their lips locked completely again, Jinyoung's fingers were still running through the elder's auburn hair slowly and Jaebum brought his hands back to Jinyoung's hips, resting them there again with his equally cold fingers slightly slipped underneath the younger's dark blue checked shirt.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, just kissing and slightly touching each other until their hands became warmer, hotter, along with the rest of their bodies.

“I still tend to believe that a bedroom is more comfortable than doing it anywhere else.” Jinyoung then chuckled, his hot breath tickling the side of Jaebum's neck.

“So you're really up for this again?”  
“Of course!” the younger breathed, once again tightening his legs around Jaebum only to loosen it again after a short second. The auburn-haired gasped a bit before bringing his hands down to Jinyoung's butt, pulling him off the table. Again, they shared a long kiss while their hands found their ways towards each other and their fingers intertwined immediately. Jaebum took the initiative to lead Jinyoung to his bedroom.

“Here we are again. Without stepping on Lego this time.” he smiled as the younger chuckled and dropped himself onto the bed, supporting himself on is elbows. Jaebum crawled on top of him, unbuttoning the checked piece of clothing while sitting on the younger's crotch. He then stripped it off the other's shoulders in an almost teasingly slow manner.

“You weren't as gentle last week.” Jinyoung commented with a soft smile, watching Jaebum taking off his own shirt as well.

“Is that a bad or a good thing?” Jaebum chuckled, shifting closer again to give Jinyoung another kiss on the lips.

“I don't know yet.” the younger then whispered against his lips with amusement in his voice. “But I think I like both.” He then brought his right hand up to let his fingers run over Jaebum's now bare chest.

The beer didn't make them drunk. Of course not, they've only had a few sips. But Jaebum didn't feel that much of a difference in the way his body reacted to Jinyoung's compared to the last time. The younger's fingertips tickling his skin were still giving him goosebumps, having another load of excitement rushing through his body. The same excitement that lead them to their situation in between messy sheets, in a room filled with soft and not so soft moans, the sound of skin against skin and the certain, unmistakable smell of everything combined.

Jaebum let out low, strained groans as he felt Jinyoung's nails digging deeper into his back, pulling him closer, making him thrust into the younger even faster. Their foreheads were touching but they stopped kissing a moment ago, focused on their now loud and sharp breathing. Jinyoung's let out a soft cry, his vision became blurry and white as Jaebum found his sweet spot, hit it and sent him over the edge in what felt like no time for both of them...


	5. Chapter 5

“Jinyoung, you're officially crazy.” YoungJae said, shaking his head as soon as Jinyoung entered their apartment. His three friends were already by the door the moment he turned his key.

“Why? I haven't even told you anything about yesterday.” he laughed nervously while taking off his shoes.

“But it's half past noon and you're coming home in... not your clothes.” Jackson smirked, crossing his arms in front of his chest while Mark was just nodding next to him.

Jinyoung looked down his body. He was wearing his own jeans but Jackson was sharp enough to notice that the plain black v-neck t-shirt was indeed not his. Good thing, he couldn't know about the pair of red Calvin Kleins that weren't his either.

“You notice everything, do you?” Jinyoung chuckled, pushing past his friends into the living room.

“Everything.” Jackson confirmed. “Even the hickey on your collarbone.”

Jinyoung scoffed at that. “Ha, as if...! Jaebum didn't even leave a single one anywhere visible. I checked.”

“Double _ha!_! You just admitted everything!” Jackson then called, having Mark and YoungJae laughing out loud and Jinyoung facepalming. His mind must've been still a bit hazy.

“You may throw me your comments now.” he then sighed in defeat.

“I told you, you're crazy.” YoungJae said. “He's probably single for a reason.”

“The kid's mother left because she wasn't ready for a child.” Jackson said. “We already know that much.”

YoungJae nodded. “Yes but that's been how many years ago? He could've found someone else already.”

“Maybe he didn't want to.” Mark mumbled and Jinyoung nodded.

But that's when Jackson threw his arm around Jinyoung's shoulders. “Aaanyways... aside from that, how was it?”

Jinyoung showed the other three a telling smirk. “Good enough for me to check myself for hickeys only one hour ago.” With that, he left the room, leaving his cheering and whistling friends behind.

 

After he closed the door of his room, he threw himself onto the bed, pulling out his phone. What he didn't expect was a message from Jaebum.

 

_ From: Jaebum _

_Did you leave your shirt and boxers on purpose so I can wash it for you?_ _ㅋㅋㅋㅋ_

 

Chuckling, Jinyoung typed his answer.

 

_ To: Jaebum _

_Now that you say it... I don't feel that stupid for forgetting it xD_

 

_ From: Jaebum _

_What if I won't wash it? I'm living with a girl here, she'll notice that the checked shirt hanging on the line is not mine_

 

_ To: Jaebum _

_You don't need a girl for that. My friends noticed your shirt immediately_ _ㅋㅋㅋㅋ_

 

_ From: Jaebum _

_See? I can't wash it :P_

 

_ To: Jaebum _

_Stop talking nonsense_ _ㅋㅋㅋㅋ_ _all you gotta do is telling a four-year-old that you bought a new shirt xD_

 

_ From: Jaebum _

_Tsk... you think that's easy, yeah?_

 

_ To: Jaebum _

_Actually yes xD but okay, I'll come and get it sometime ^^_

 

_ From: Jaebum _

_You better :P_

 

Jinyoung chuckled again, rolling his eyes before tossing the phone aside. Now thinking about it, he himself wasn't even sure whether he actually forgot his clothes or left them on purpose so that he'll have a reason to go and see Jaebum again. Which he had to anyways since he had to give back the shirt and briefs he was wearing right now.

 

***

 

“Your cooking got better.” BamBam said, almost incomprehensible as his mouth was stuffed with food. It was Friday and the blonde and his boyfriend Yugyeom had invited themselves over to Jaebum's like they did for an uncountable amount of times before. Well, BamBam did. Yugyeom came for the third time today as he and BamBam started dating only two months ago. But since then, he and Jaebum had become good friends as well.

“You shouldn't talk with food in your mouth.” Yoonhee criticized him while scooping her tomato soup drenched noodles with her small spoon which had a cute animal engraved on its handle.

“She's right. But thank you.” Jaebum said dryly, making the tall, raven-haired boy on the other side of the table laughing out loud while Yoonhee nodded, satisfied with her father proving her right.

BamBam just pouted, gulping down the bite he was chewing on before mumbling a soft “Sorry.”

In that moment, Jaebum noticed his phone vibrating and blinking on the kitchen counter.

“Uhh~” Yugyeom exclaimed, obviously having heard it as well. “Is it him?”

It was two weeks after Jaebum's last date with Jinyoung. They haven't seen each other since then but kept texting daily which Jaebum enjoyed a lot. He got to know the younger more with each day and he guessed it was the same for Jinyoung.

“Who?” Yoonhee asked suddenly, being as curious as always.

Jaebum's eyes widened. “A friend.” he answered shortly. BamBam kicked Yugyeom underneath the table, having the other wincing slightly.

Of course, Yoonhee was okay with her father's answer and kept eating, not noticing the short death glare Jaebum was sending to his youngest friend.

“I'll call him back later.” he then said before taking a big bite so that he wouldn't have to answer another question too soon. But instead of asking, BamBam and Yugyeom just exchanged a knowing glance before continuing to eat.

 

Around one hour later, Jaebum found himself sitting on the edge of Yoonhee's bed, reading his censored version of Harry Potter. At some point, he wasn't even sure if it was still making sense with all those parts cut out but Yoonhee seemed content and that was everything that mattered.

The moment he noticed Yoonhee's eyes falling shut, he lowered his voice even more, finishing the sentence before closing the book. He leaned over the little girl, giving her a kiss on the forehead before whispering “Good night.”

As careful as always, he then stood up, switched the light of and left the room with one more glance at the sleeping child. He closed the door behind himself and put the book onto the chest of drawers right next to him.

BamBam and Yugyeom had left shortly before he was getting Yoonhee ready for bed so he was alone in the living room now for the first time today. He dropped himself onto the sofa, switching on the TV to watch the drama he's been watching from time to time without really following the plot. He just enjoyed seeing the characters interact with each other as this alone was what kept the series interesting.

Another two hours passed like that. Jaebum changed channels after the episode was over and was now watching a comedy show while thinking about what to eat now. He was craving for a late night snack. When he remembered that there were still some chips, he got up onto his feet, making his way towards the kitchen and getting the packet of chips from one of the upper shelves. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he ripped it open, filling a few chips into a bowl. That's when he heard someone knocking at the door.

Furrowing his brows, he waited for a few seconds until the knocking was heard again.

The clock on the wall said it was half past ten. With the bowl in his hand, he went to the door, opening it.

“Hey.”

“Jinyoung?” A sudden rush of adrenaline came across him as he saw the younger standing right in front of him. “What are you doing here? At this time I mean...”

Jinyoung chuckled softly at the other's shocked expression while holding a black shirt in front of Jaebum. “I tried to call you earlier but you didn't answer so I just came here... I hope it's okay.”

Jaebum couldn't help but turn around, checking whether the door to Yoonhee's room was really closed before turning back to Jinyoung. “I guess it is... wanna come in for a moment?”

“Sure.” Jinyoung smiled and followed the other into the apartment.

“Then I can give you back your clothes as well. I even washed them. You can thank me later.”

Laughing, Jinyoung took off his coat and his shoes. “So you're having a late night snack?”

“As usual.” Jaebum chuckled while putting the bowl onto the coffee table. “We eat dinner at six so I get hungry at night.”

Jinyoung was still grinning while Jaebum disappeared into his room. He looked around the place that seemed a bit more familiar already. He knew that he had to watch his way because he might step onto some toy. With that in mind, Jinyoung went to the couch, sitting down before grabbing a handful of chips.

When Jaebum came back with his clothes, he chuckled at the sight of the younger having gotten comfortable already. “You know that Yoonhee is sleeping next room?”

“Am I that noisy? I didn't even use the doorbell since I supposed that uh... the little one... is already asleep.”

“Thanks.” Jaebum smiled at him while sitting down beside him. “And no you're not noisy. I'm just saying that... you can't stay here...”

Jinyoung stuffed a chip into his mouth while nodding and pulling his feet up onto the couch. “I know. But I can stay for _a bit_ , right?”

Now Jaebum nodded, taking a chip as well. Still, his eyes were frequently darting towards Yoonhee's room. The whole situation felt risky, even though the younger male was only sitting there, eating chips.

“Do you think you have some time next weekend?” the latter then asked, making Jaebum tear his eyes away from the door.

“I guess...” Jaebum said, remembering that BamBam offered to take care of Yoonhee again earlier.

Jinyoung smiled at that, pulling his feet even closer towards his body. “Good.”

“Good?” Jaebum grinned. “Do you have plans already?”

The younger shrugged. “Not really but I think we won't feel bored.”

Chuckling, Jaebum now brought his feet up onto the couch as well, having their knees touching slightly. “I hope so.”

“How about... you showing me your cooking skills?” Jinyoung suggested.

“Hm... BamBam told me I'm getting better today but I'm not really sure about that.” the elder laughed, scratching he back of his neck a bit nervously.

“Nah... I think you're doing a lot better than me.” Jinyoung said, grabbing another chip.

“That might be about right, though.”

Jinyoung gasped and threw his chip towards Jaebum. “Thank you very much.”

The elder fumbled for the chip that had slipped between him and the backrest and was just about to throw it back when Jinyoung grabbed his wrist, preventing him from doing so. But Jaebum couldn't let him go through with this so he shifted closer, trying to break free and somehow flip the chip into Jinyoung's direction. Yet, his move only brought them closer, causing both of them to freeze.

“It's save to kiss, right?” Jinyoung whispered, now also glancing at the closed door down the hallway shortly.

“I guess...” Jaebum said, leaning even closer, totally forgetting about the chip in his hand.

But that's when a squeaking sound was heard. Jaebum jerked up immediately, pulling Jinyoung up as well. “Go over there!” Jaebum only hissed while pointing at the corner next to the television. The younger was just quick enough to press his back against the wall before he heard the little girl's soft voice from behind the corner.

“I woke up.”

“Again?” Jaebum chuckled, running a hand though his hair. Jinyoung could clearly see how nervous he was. “Did you have a bad dream or something?”

Yoonhee shook her head, rubbing her eyes. Jaebum noticed immediately that his daughter was still very sleepy. But he knew her habit of coming back to him as soon as she woke up at night.

He disappeared from Jinyoung's vision as he walked towards the little girl, lifting her up. “Then you should go back to bed. It'll make you feel sleepy in no time.” He carried her back into her room, tugging her in again before crouching down next to her bed, stroking her hair. “You will be really tired tomorrow if you don't sleep now. Don't you think you can hug Mr. Rabbit and have some nice dream again? Because it's really late and I will go to bed as well soon.”

Yoonhee pulled the cover closer to her chin and nodded. Her eyes were already closed, making Jaebum wonder how she was even able to get up when she was actually that sleepy. Maybe she heard him talking to Jinyoung after all? But then she would've asked about it, right?

Jaebum smiled and gave her another kiss before getting up on his feet again. “Again, good night.”

As she didn't answer, he knew that she was already back in dreamland. For the second time today, he closed the door of her room behind him and stepped back into the living room where Jinyoung had sat down onto the floor, fumbling with some Lego again.

“I think she heard us. Wittingly or unwittingly... I don't know...” Jaebum sighed.

“Makes it more exciting, I guess...” Jinyoung grinned while putting the Lego aside and getting up again, sticking out his tongue at the elder. Jaebum had to chuckle at that. He threw the closed door another glance, nodded to himself before turning back towards Jinyoung who, leaning in to finally kiss him.

As on cue, Jinyoung wrapped his arms around his neck to pull him closer and also, to prevent him from breaking the kiss too soon. Jaebum's hands found their way towards the front of the younger's belt, clutching it tightly while tugging on it a bit. To say that their situation was exciting like this was kind of an understatement for him, though. Jinyoung smirked into the kiss before they broke when they noticed the lack of oxygen in their lungs.

“I still feel like I'm not supposed to do this.” Jaebum whispered. “Once is okay... twice... happens... but the third one is definitely pure purpose.”

“Well... yes.” Jinyoung laughed. “I didn't come here by accident.”

Chuckling, Jaebum pressed his lips against the younger's again before looking him straight into the eyes. “I figured as much. But we can't do this.”

“Well then let's not.” Jinyoung said as both haven't moved from their position.

“Let's not.” Jaebum agreed before acting in total contrast to his words by kissing Jinyoung once more. And it wasn't just a simple peck. It was a kiss that, again, led to more. _More_ as in a locked bedroom door, muffled, suppressed moans and once again, completely messed up sheets.

 

The next morning, Jaebum woke up with a heavily pounding heart, alarmed by the sound of two little feet nearing his bedroom. As quick as possible he gave Jinyoung a not so gentle push to wake the younger up. Surprised by the sudden movement, the younger gasped loudly as he nearly fell out of the bed. Needless to say that once hearing that, Jaebum's eyes widened even more.

“Daddy? Are you still sleeping?” Yoonhee called and Jaebum heard her small hand being pressed against the door while the other tried to pull down the handle, to no avail of course.

Both men were already up on their feet, collecting their clothes from the floor. Jaebum watched Jinyoung for a second before throwing a pillow at him and gesturing towards his closet, telling the younger to get some fresh clothes from him again. Jinyoung smiled, nodded and grabbed just another black shirt and a pair of boxers.

“Daddy?” Yoonhee called again.

Jaebum closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You're already awake, princess?” he then asked. The door handle was pulled down again.

“Daddy, the door doesn’t work...”

Jaebum, only dressed in socks and a black pair of briefs, grabbed Jinyoung's wrist, pulling him to the corner of the room that was hidden from the view when standing at the door. He then jumped to open it, greeting his daughter with the most innocent smile, Jinyoung has ever seen.

“I think you didn't pull the handle down all the way...” Jaebum chuckled while ruffling the little girl's hair and shoving her backwards with a soft gesture. “Now that we're both awake, let's go to the bathroom to brush our teeth, alright?”

“Okay~” the little girl beamed, hopping off towards the bathroom. Jaebum threw Jinyoung an apologetic smile before following his daughter.

Only when he heard the bathroom door falling shut, Jinyoung dared to move from his safe place. As quick as possible he fixed his clothes before carefully tiptoeing out of the room, past the bathroom where he could hear Jaebum's and Yoonhee's happy chattering along with water running. He looked at the closed door with a soft smile on his face, nodding to himself, not realizing that he almost stepped onto just another Lego brick before he finally headed out of the apartment.

Once he stepped out onto the street, he took out his phone from his pocket, checking the time. He almost choked when he noticed that it was only six in the morning. On Saturday. And there he was, standing on the sidewalk, probably having a bad case of bed hair... wearing, to quote Jackson, _not his clothes_... and longing for a shower. He definitely could've found an easier, more comfortable way to satisfy his needs. But that didn't mean he wanted to at that point.

Suddenly, he remembered that he actually forgot the real reason why he came here last night. Well, maybe the officially real reason which were his clothes. But instead of picking them up, he only left a few more.

“Well done, Park.” he chuckled to himself before starting to walk down the street, towards his apartment.

The good thing about the earliness was that his friends were still asleep. He could just enter the apartment, have a shower, go back to bed and they'll never know he wasn't home that night. But that's when he thought of Jaebum again. While this was an exception for Jinyoung, it was daily routine for Jaebum.

Jinyoung could choose not to stay the night or even lock the door behind Jaebum in the morning and continue sleeping. Jaebum couldn't. He had to get up when Yoonhee did. He also went through the phase of getting up multiple times at night when the baby was crying. He delayed his studies to take care of her and was only free when Yoonhee was at his friend's place. As much as Jinyoung tried to picture himself in a situation like this, he didn't think he'd be capable of any of these circumstances yet. But he also remembered the rare moments he'd seen father and daughter together. Jaebum was always smiling at the little girl. He might've met the elder only a few weeks ago but he was more than sure that he could identify those smiles as real ones. And even just now, Jaebum managed to keep calm and sweet when talking to Yoonhee which Jinyoung surely couldn't have done.

He took a deep breath of the clean morning air while kicking a stone aside, hands buried into the pockets of his jeans.

Whatever it was that was going on between him and Jaebum now... it was only the proof of Jaebum being unable to be in a relationship, just like YoungJae had said. Because no matter what happened, Yoonhee came first. Not that anything was wrong with that. But thinking about it now, Jinyoung would've appreciated not being chased out again in a hurry. He would've preferred spending the morning at his place, just like he did two weeks ago...

Again, he grabbed his phone, texting Jaebum that he forgot his clothes. Again.

 


	6. Chapter 6

Later that day, Jaebum found himself outside at the local park, sitting on a bench with BamBam while watching Yugyeom pushing Yoonhee on the swings at the playground.

“And then he just left?” BamBam asked, even though he's heard the whole story just a few seconds ago.

“Of course. I mean I told him to.”

BamBam looked at him with narrowed eyes and pursed lips, looking as if he was thinking hard about the topic at hand. Then, he took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah that's... okay. I mean Yoonhee doesn't have to meet your... what is he even?”

“That's why... there's nothing serious between us. Not that I could handle a relationship now anyway...”

“Of course...”

In that moment, YuGyeom quickly dropped by to get some water while Yoonhee was busy digging in the sand. “What are you talking about?” he asked, one hand on his hip.

“This Jinyoung guy came yesterday after we had left, they spent the night together and when Yoonhee got up this morning, hyung threw him out.”

“You're so cruel.” YuGyeom just said, before gulping down some water and running back to Yoonhee to help her.

Jaebum's jaw dropped at the younger's words. He turned back to BamBam who just shrugged. “You're thinking the same, am I right?”

“If you want me to be honest... then yes.” the blonde then said hesitantly.

Letting out a groan, Jaebum buried his face in his hands. “But what else am I supposed to do?”

“How should I know? You just have to ask yourself whether you want a relationship or not.”

“I don't. I mean I can't, though I probably want.” Jaebum sighed. “Like yes, it would be nice to have a partner but not yet... and I don't see Jinyoung there anyway. He isn't up for a relationship either and he seems to be very awkward with kids. But I really like him... not as love like but... like like... So I never meant to act cruel towards him.”

Listening carefully, BamBam just nodded again. “If he doesn't want a relationship either then it's okay I guess... But what's gonna happen now? Will you see him again? Is this some kind of sex relationship?”  
“Shh~” Jaebum's eyes quickly darted towards his little daughter who was still happily playing in the sand with the tall boy. “I don't know... I guess all I can do is wait and see.”

Again, BamBam nodded while Jaebum got up from the bench, joining Yoonhee and YuGyeom in the sand.

 

***

 

“He's so cruel.” YoungJae exclaimed. “But I told you. He's just up for sex and nothing more.”

“Calm down. I never expected him to act differently. I know that as soon as his daughter appears on screen, I'm long forgotten.” Jinyoung said in a calm voice. “Plus, I don't think that I want more either.”

“Oh? That sounded different a few days ago or did I miss something?” Jackson wondered.

“I never said that.” Jinyoung shook his head.

“But you thought it.” Mark smirked. “Or am I wrong there?”

YoungJae got up from the sofa, getting himself a glass of water from the kitchen. “And now? Will you meet him again after this?”

“Can you bring me a glass, too? Thanks. And I don't know... But I left my two favorite shirts at his place. Sooner or later I have to go there.”

Jackson let out a soft squealing noise.

“I bet if the kid's there, he'll just open the door, throw it into your face and let the door follow again.” YoungJae said, returning with a glass for Jinyoung.

“Now you're being unfair. I never said that he's an asshole. He's just an... overprotective dad. That's all. He won't let me anywhere near Yoonhee to prevent her from finding out that...”

“He's gay? Sleeping with a stranger?” Jackson suggested.

“All of the above I suppose...” Jinyoung agreed. “But let's be honest guys, if you were a father... wouldn't you do the same?”

The second he ended his sentence, he bit his lip. There was a moment of silence in the room, everyone was looking at Jinyoung.

“Did you really just ask that?” Mark was the first one to find his voice again.

“Yeah why?”

“Nothing...” Jackson mumbled. “But you know that no one here as ever thought about having children yet?”

Groaning, Jinyoung let his head fall back against the couch. “I know. How did I even end up in a situation like this? All I did was hooking up with a stranger after being thrown out by my room-mates. I never wanted any kid to be involved...”

“So you're blaming us now?” Jackson squeaked in his usual loud voice. “Woah, you're really something...”

“I didn't mean it like that...” Jinyoung chuckled. “I'm not blaming anyone. It just happened and now I gotta deal with it.”

“If I were in your shoes, I'd just let him down.” YoungJae said. “I'm not saying this to be mean but don't you think it would help the both of you? He wouldn't be stressed about his daughter and you... will find someone else eventually.”

Mark threw a short glance at Jinyoung before shaking his head. “YoungJae... I doubt that this is even an option by now...”

Jinyoung's eyes widened as he looked up at the elder. “What are you hinting at?”

Jackson smirked, putting his arm around Mark's shoulder. “He's hinting at _feelings_.”

“No feelings involved.” Jinyoung just stated. “I mean... I do like him because he's a nice person to be around but that's it. How many times do I have to repeat that?”

His three friends were staring at him, searching for something in his face that would tell them that he's not being honest but they couldn't find anything but a complete poker face.

YoungJae scoffed, looking at the couple beside him. “Just because you're in love doesn't mean that everyone is _feeling_ the same.”

“He's got the point.” Jinyoung laughed. “You know... all I want is a happy end for this situation where neither one of us nor the kid gets harmed. Maybe we'll become friends and that's it. Or maybe he'll find a new mother for the kid or... whatever the best solution might be.”

YoungJae nodded, a satisfied smile playing on his lips. “Sounds reasonable.”

Jackson and Mark on the other hand, looked pretty much disappointed. “If you say so...” Jackson mumbled, playing with the hem of Mark's t-shirt. The elder pouted.

“You seem more into this than I am.” Jinyoung laughed, looking at his friends' reactions before getting up and leaving for his room to finish the assignment he's supposed to hand in by the end of the week.

 

***

 

It was about six weeks later, a Saturday evening, and Jinyoung rushed towards the door as soon as he heard the doorbell ringing. But he was too late. He groaned to himself, seeing Jackson standing by the door, Mark clinging onto his back, both brightly smiling at Jaebum. Why did he even agree to Jaebum's suggestion of picking him up today? Or at least, he should've given him a different address or something...

“So you're the single dad?” Jackson smirked. Jinyoung hit his face with his palm. He should've known better. Really.

“You must be Jackson. Nice meeting you.” Jaebum only smiled before bringing his gaze up to Mark. “And you're Mark? Jinyoung is talking a lot about you two.”

“Oh really?” Jackson squealed in his usual, hyper way. “But you should know that he's also talking a lot about y-”

“Oookay I think we should leave. Didn't you say you booked the table at eight?” Jinyoung quickly jumped in, grabbing his wallet and his coat before pushing Jaebum backwards, out of the apartment.

“Have fun!” Was all they could hear from Jackson and Mark before the door fell shut behind them.

“Sorry.” Jinyoung just said with a slight chuckle.

“It's okay. It's not like you didn't warn me multiple times... But I just wanted to know where you live.” Jaebum smiled before putting his hands onto Jinyoung's hips, pulling him into a kiss.

“Hey.” Jinyoung whispered as soon as they let go of each other again.

“Hey.” Jaebum said, smiling at him. “But Nyeong?”

“Yeah?”

“I thought we were going to eat at my place today.”

Laughing, Jinyoung nodded as they walked down the stairs. “Of course. But I needed an excuse. I thought you're familiar with these kind of lies.”

Gasping, Jaebum nudged his shoulder.

 

“I still don't get why you would pick me up to eat at your place after all...” Jinyoung said. They were walking down the street towards the grocery store.

Jaebum shrugged. “I told you I wanna know where you live. And maybe see your friends once...”

“Was it worth it?”

“Jackson telling me that you talk about me a lot? Definitely yes.” the elder laughed and Jinyoung couldn't even hide the embarrassment in his expression.

“You heard that?”

“How could I not? He was screaming it right into my face.”

“Aish...” Jinyoung sighed, now also chuckling. “Jacks is just too loud...”  
Smiling, Jaebum looked at Jinyoung while grabbing his hand. He then shoved their hands into the pocket of his leather jacket. “At least I finally know what you're talking about all the time when you mention your friends.”

“True.” Jinyoung laughed, squeezing Jaebum's hand a bit inside of the pocket.

A little bell rang when they entered the grocery store. “So? What do you feel like eating today?”

“Depends on your cooking abilities.” Jinyoung answered.

Laughing, Jaebum nodded. “Alright. How does... spaghetti sound?”

Jinyoung scoffed. “Well I can do that much, too.”

Jaebum stuck out his tongue at the younger. “But I bet I can make a better sauce.”

“Alright. This needs to be proven. What do you need then?” Jinyoung chuckled.

 

“I fear I gotta let go of your hand now.” Jaebum said as he was about to grab a can from the shelf in front of them. He was holding a few things in his left hand while Jinyoung was also holding a handful in his right.

“If you're gonna grab even more we won't be able to get everything to the check-stand.” Jinyoung laughed while pulling his hand out of the elder's pocket.

“Don't worry. There's only cheese left.” Jaebum assured him while grabbing the can with his now free hand.

Jinyoung was moving his right hand a bit, trying to get used to the sudden coldness surrounding it. He then followed Jaebum through the aisles until they arrived at the cooling shelves.

“You have a free hand... can you grab the packet up there?” Jaebum asked, using his knee to keep all the things in his hands balanced. Jinyoung opened the shelf, reaching for a packet of cheese in the upper corner of it. It didn't go unnoticed by Jaebum that the younger's shirt slipped out of his jeans while doing so. When Jinyoung closed the shelf again, Jaebum wordlessly handed him the can he grabbed before and shoved his shirt back underneath his waistband with two free fingers.

“Thanks.” Jinyoung chuckled. “I'm still curious what exactly you're planning to do with all of this. It's a weird combination for spaghetti sauce. Like... cheese, bacon, tomatoes, onions, sausage... I usually use ketchup and that's it. So what kind of secret grandma recipe is this?”

“Actually, that's my own.” Jaebum laughed. “There was a day when we only had random things in our fridge... so I tossed everything into the frying pan and... that's it.”

“Wow.” Jinyoung chuckled. “Sounds promising already.”

“You'll love it.”

“Oh will I?” Jinyoung smirked.

 

After Jinyoung insisted on paying for everything, they walked to Jaebum's apartment. As usual, BamBam had volunteered to take care of Yoonhee for the night so that Jaebum could enjoy some free time with Jinyoung. It has become some sort of routine to do that every second Saturday. Once in a while, Jinyoung would stay the night on weekdays, too. But only after Jaebum made sure that Yoonhee was alright and sleeping tight. The next mornings were always pretty hectic but as time went by, they got used to it.

The water was already boiling while Jaebum was cutting the tomatoes and Jinyoung snatched one away, shoving it into his mouth. The elder let out a sound of complaint.

“Just wanted to make sure that it tastes good.” Jinyoung grinned at him cheekily.

“Sure.” Jaebum nodded before leaning in to give Jinyoung a peck on the lips. He then continued with his task.

Smiling, Jinyoung leaned against the counter, watching the elder for a moment. To be honest, he imagined Jaebum to move around the kitchen rather clumsily but instead, he looked like he knew what he was doing.

But then, Jaebum's phone buzzed on the counter right next to the younger. He slightly jumped in surprise before grabbing the item.

“Who is it?” Jaebum asked while putting the tomatoes into the frying pan.

“BamBam. He sent you a picture.” Jinyoung said, looking at the notification on the lock-screen before he was about to put the phone aside.

“What picture?”

Jinyoung chuckled and shook his head. “I'm not opening your chat. That's something personal.”

“I just allowed you to do so.” Jaebum laughed. “I'm busy cooking here. Maybe it's something important and I'll never know.”

“Alright.” Jinyoung rolled his eyes and pressed his thumb onto the notification. As soon as the picture was showing, he bit his lip.

“So?” Jaebum asked again, stirring around the pan.

Jinyoung looked at the picture of Yoonhee sleeping, curled up into the embrace of a black-haired, tall boy who was also sound asleep on a sofa, legs hanging down from the armrest. “It's Yoonhee and... uh... BamBam's boyfriend I guess.”

Jaebum turned to look at him and Jinyoung showed him the phone. Jaebum smiled, reading the message beneath the photo.

 

_ From: BamBam _

_The kids were playing outside for the whole day. They're pretty tired now_ _ㅋㅋㅋㅋ_

 

“Seems like they're really close to Yoonhee...” Jinyoung said while putting the phone aside.

Jaebum nodded. “Of course. I wouldn't let her stay with them otherwise. And... BamBam has always been there for her. I think she sees him as something like a big brother. But when YuGyeom and BamBam started dating, she only had eyes for Gyeom.” he laughed while filling the noodles and the sauce into two bowls. He then put the bowls onto the table, telling Jinyoung to sit down with a simple gesture. “So, I hope you like it. Bon appétit!”

The younger chuckled and took place. “Bon appétit!”

 

 

“You know what?” Jinyoung asked while playing with Jaebum's hair. They finished dinner, cleaned the kitchen and were now on the couch, Jinyoung sitting on the left side of it while Jaebum was using his lap as a pillow, staring up at the younger. “I think you should cook for us again next time.”

“So... skills proven?” Jaebum chuckled.

“Definitely.” Jinyoung nodded, smiling brightly. “But... what do you think of the idea that... Yoonhee will join us?” Soon after these words left his lips, his smile dropped. He himself didn't know where this question came from so it was only natural for Jaebum to copy his surprised expression.

“Uh...” the elder hummed, sitting up straight. “Listen, Jinyoung... I don't think this is a good idea...”

“Because she wouldn't understand? But I thought she's spending a lot of time with BamBam and his boyfriend...” the younger wasn't trying to sound that salty but that's just what his words came out like.

“It's not that...” Jaebum said, shaking his head while grabbing Jinyoung's hands.

“Then what is it?” the black-haired wondered. “You don't want her to know that you're gay, don't you?”

“It's not about being gay... I'm just afraid she wouldn't understand why there's... someone else.” Jaebum sighed, playing with Jinyoung's fingers on his lap now. “It's always been the two of us against the rest of the world, you know what I mean? Sure there's BamBam and now even YuGyeom but... I fear that's something different. Like I said, they're like brothers for her. So I'm sorry Nyeong... but I don't want you two to meet anytime soon... I can't.”

Jinyoung hummed softly. He didn't say anything for a good moment. The question was so spontaneous for him that something inside of him hoped to have Jaebum reacting to it just as surprising but now that the elder crashed his hopes, he felt the uncomfortable sting of frustration in his chest. Of course, Jaebum would react like that. That's what he told him from the start.

“You know... if you're not at ease with the whole situation we might as well stop seeing each other...” Jinyoung then said, not failing to surprise himself again with the suggestion that was so far from his own expectations. Nonetheless, he kept his voice steady which almost convinced himself of that being the most reasonable solution. Which it probably was, really. But he wasn't fond of the idea.

Jaebum took another deep breath, burying his face in his hands for a second before pushing his hair back and looking at Jinyoung with an unreadable expression. “We both don't want that, do we?”

The younger shook his head. “No I don't want that but... what about you?”

“Neither do I. But it makes me feel like I've gotta decide between you and Yoonhee and there's only one answer to that question. You know that.”

“I know.” Jinyoung confirmed. “That's why I should leave, don't you think? I mean... maybe we'll meet again. We can text if you want... But I don't think I want to keep up with this kind of relationship anymore... At least for now.”

That being said, Jinyoung got up from the sofa, fixing his clothes and heading towards the door. Jaebum followed him to the threshold, feeling lost, not knowing what to say. No, he really didn't want that.

 


	7. Chapter 7

_ From: BamBam _

_Did he reply by now?_

 

Jaebum took a deep breath and shook his head while typing his answer. He was walking towards the kindergarten to pick Yoonhee up, one hand typing, the other shoved into the pocket of his jeans.

 

_ To: BamBam _

_He didn't but he's had loads of assignments to hand in today and right now he should have a lecture._

 

_ From: BamBam _

_Let's hope that's the reason. Damn boy, you really fucked up there!_

 

_ To: BamBam _

_You're not helping, Bam._

 

_ From: BamBam _

_I'm just being honest. At least, you could've tried to find a better solution..._

 

Suddenly, Jaebum bumped into someone, almost dropping his phone. “Sorry.” he said quickly. He looked up, seeing the woman's expression softening immediately as soon as she saw him. She was somewhere around her thirties.

“Ah never mind.” she chuckled. “I wasn't paying attention.”

“Me neither, so... I'm sorry.” he said, shoving his phone into his pocket. The kindergarten was right in front of them and Jaebum was just about to continue his way when he noticed that the woman was following him towards the entrance.

“You're Yoonhee's father, aren't you?” she asked in a friendly tone of voice.

Jaebum was a little bit confused and stopped in his tracks again. “Yeah? Why?”

“What a coincidence. I'm Minah's mother. Our kids seem to get along really well.” she said. “Minah keeps saying that she wants to invite Yoonhee over to play.”

At that, Jaebum's expression lightened up and he chuckled while they finally entered the building. “Ah yes. Yoonhee told me so but she forgot your last name so I couldn't contact you.”

Minah's mother started laughing. “Kids... It's good we met right now then. How about we exchange numbers later? Let's find the little ones first.”

“Alright. But... how did you know it was me?”

“Minah told me that Yoonhee only has a father who is really young... The rest was a lucky guess.”

Chuckling, Jaebum nodded. “A good one, obviously.”

“Mommy~” a little girl then called, running towards them and jumped into her mother's embrace before turning around, waving hectically. “Yoonhee, your daddy is here, too!”

Yoonhee came running around a corner, perfectly copying her friend's actions and hopping into Jaebum's arms.

“Hello princess~” he smiled, kissing her cheek.

“So you girls wanna play together sometime?” Minah's mother asked while letting her daughter down again. Both girls nodded enthusiastically, making their parents laugh. Jaebum put Yoonhee down as well, fishing out his phone again.

“I have to talk to my husband first to see when there's time. I'll contact you then, alright?” she smiled while they exchanged their phones to type their numbers.

Jaebum nodded. “Alright. Minah's always welcome at our place then.”

“Yay~” the girls cheered, hugging each other while jumping up and down.

Chuckling, Minah's mother handed Jaebum his phone while taking her's back. “So is Yoonhee at ours. See you later then.”

“Alright. See you.” Jaebum said taking Yoonhee's hand. The girls waved at each other before they were walking down the streets in different directions.

“I can't wait to show Minah my Elsa doll. Minah has the Anna doll, too.” Yoonhee said, hopping beside Jaebum while holding his hand tightly. “And then we want to watch Frozen together.”

Jaebum was smiling as he looked down at her. “Will you ever stop loving Frozen that much?”

“Never!” she little girl beamed, making her father laugh at her immediate answer. “When will Minah's mommy call? I want to play with Minah really soon.”

“I don't know, princess.” Jaebum chuckled, ruffling her hair with his free hand. “But I think she will call as soon as possible.”

“Good.” Yoonhee sang. “But daddy?”

“Yes?”

“Why don't I have a mommy?”

Jaebum almost chocked, hearing that question so suddenly. He immediately stopped in his tracks, his hand tightening a bit around his daughter's. He knew she'd ask sooner or later but he always hoped that it would be... _later_. And especially not that unexpected.

“Uh... am I not enough?” he chose to cover his shock with a nervous laughter before they started walking again.

“Of course you are.” Yoonhee giggled. “But all of my friends have a mommy...”

“Look, princess... this is a difficult story. I'd love to tell you when you're a bit older but since you're asking now.... ah what do I do?” Jaebum sighed, more to himself while running his hand through his hair.

“Did my mommy die? Like Cinderella's?” Yoonhee asked, looking up at him with curiosity written all over her face.

“No! Oh my god...” Jaebum gasped, shaking his head. “She's just...” he didn't know what to say. Saying yes would've made things easier because for him, she was. But he couldn't possibly lie to Yoonhee about that. So of course, that wasn't really an option. On the other hand, he didn't know if the truth was even worse.

Jaebum looked down at his little girl again and couldn't help but smile. She stopped hopping but her steps were still light as she was softly humming to 'Let it go'. The last thing he wanted to tell her was something like _'Your mommy didn't like you so she ran away.'_ But that's what happened.

Except for Yoonhee's humming, they were walking in silence for a few minutes until Jaebum led them to a bench standing next to a small lawn with a few trees and flowers on it. Some people were sitting on the green ground, reading a book or just listening to music while enjoying the sunny weather. Jaebum sat down on the bench, putting Yoonhee's bag next to him before lifting the little girl up onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

“You know...” he then started “Your mommy was really young when you were born... and taking care of a little baby is pretty hard, especially at such a young age...”

“How old was she?” Yoonhee asked, eyes still filled with nothing but curiosity.

“Eighteen.” Jaebum answered. “That's why she was afraid of such a big responsibility. And even though, I was helping her, she left the two of us alone and went far away.”

“So mommy ran away? Like Elsa?”

Jaebum smiled softly and hugged his girl even tighter. “Yes, like Elsa.”

“And where is she? We can go and bring her back.” Yoonhee suggested with a bright smile.

Sighing, Jaebum shook his head. “We can't, princess. She is too far away, I think. I don't even know where exactly she is right now. And then... I don't think she wants to come back to us. She's probably living another life with other people...”

“But Anna and Kristoff brought Elsa back, too.”

“Because even though she was afraid, Elsa loved Anna and actually wanted to come back.”

“So mommy does not love us?” The curiosity in Yoonhee's eyes was now replaced with slightly shimmering tears that threatened to drop soon.

Jaebum shook his head again, kissing her on top of her head before nuzzling his nose into her hair. “Therefore I love you twice as much, princess.” he said, swaying back and forth a bit while still hugging her as tight as possible.

The little girl sniffled softly, shifting a bit in Jaebum's hold before leaning her head back to look at him with still shimmering eyes. Then, a smile formed on her lips again. “I love you, too, daddy.”

Jaebum let out a shaky breath he didn't know he was holding before giving Yoonhee another kiss on the cheek and wiping her tears away. “Wanna go home now? You must be hungry...”

“Yes~” she nodded, sliding down Jaebum's lap while holding his hands tightly. “But daddy? In a fairy tale, there is always a new mommy. Will I have a new mommy, too?”

Again, Jaebum was silent for a moment, thinking about Yoonhee's words. Then, he fixed the little bow in her hair that shifted a bit to the side earlier. In his mind, he replayed the scenes of last Saturday when Jinyoung had stormed out of his apartment and the twisting feeling inside of his stomach after realizing his mistake.

“... I don't know yet. But I want you to know that you will always be my number one, okay? No matter what happens.”

“Pinky promise?” Yoonhee asked, holding her little finger up.

“Pinky promise.” Jaebum smiled, getting up from the bench now. Yoonhee's tiny hand was laying in his again as they finally made their way home.

 

***

 

_ From: Jaebum _

_Hey... um... I just wanted to say sorry again. Hope you can forgive me... I didn't mean to make you feel bad._

_ps. your checked shirt is still here_

 

It was Wednesday afternoon, right after his musicology lecture and Jinyoung was staring at his phone again, at the message Jaebum sent him three days ago to be more precise.

The thing was, that he didn't know what to reply. He felt bad for ignoring the elder, probably worrying him for so long but he didn't feel like being honest about his feelings. Not after Jaebum made things more than clear for him.

Yes, they weren't looking for a relationship and yes, they talked about it. But that's what's bothering Jinyoung more and more. He wasn't even mad at Jaebum but at himself because all his resolutions of no feelings involved were thrown out of the window by now and there was nothing he could to about it.

Being with Jaebum felt good, whether it was the sex or just hanging around. They were comfortable around each other in every way and yes, Jinyoung noticed that his feelings had changed somewhere around their forth week of meeting frequently. It was when he was standing in front of the elder's apartment, not knowing how to classify the butterflies in his stomach, when Jaebum opened the door and pulled him into a gentle kiss and the butterflies ran riot that things started to become obvious for him. Yet, he always tried to keep it down and continue their non-relationship like that.

But Jaebum didn't make it easy for him. He made him curious about every single detail about his life and while Jinyoung was sure Jaebum knew almost everything about him by now, he himself was still missing the most important part of Jaebum's life. Yet, it didn't surprise that Jaebum hasn't changed his mind about him meeting Yoonhee. He expected this kind of reaction even before asking but the question just slipped out from between his lips. In that moment, Jaebum's denial came natural for him but the more he thought about it, the more it frustrated him.

“Hey Jinyoung!” Mark's voice woke him from his thoughts.

“Oh hey, don't you have lecture now?” Jinyoung wondered, being used to go home by himself on Wednesdays since his friends are all busy.

“Nah, the prof's not here today. So we can go home together.” the elder smiled.

Jinyoung nodded and gave Mark both thumbs up. He liked spending time with Mark only since the elder was really chill and quiet when Jackson wasn't around, giving him some time to breath during a conversation.

“So... how's your single dad doing?” Mark succeeded in crashing Jinyoung's dreams of a chill chat as they exited the building together.

Jinyoung shrugged. “I don't know...”

“What do you mean you don't know? Did you still not text him back?”

“No I didn't. Maybe YoungJae was right from the start... I shouldn't have fooled around with him at all.”

Mark shook his head. “Don't say that. You clearly enjoyed your time with him so what's wrong with that?”

“I enjoyed it a bit too much, you know what I mean?”

Gasping, Mark turned to Jinyoung with widened eyes. “So you actually fell for him!”

“Shh...” Jinyoung hissed to calm the elder down. “Yes I did but I'm not going to make a big deal out of it. He's not up for something serious so I put an end to it.”

“But he texted you again.”

“Yeah... because I left my shirt at his place.”

Mark chuckled. “Sure. It's all about the shirt.”

“C'mon Mark... I'm done with this.” Jinyoung sighed. “Otherwise I'll get hurt and I don't really need that right now.”

“Dude... not trying to take the wind out of your sails but that happened already.”

“Who said that?”

Instead of giving an answer, Mark just threw him a glance that said enough. Jinyoung scoffed as he continued to walk beside Mark in silence.

That's until the elder stopped in his tracks. “I almost forgot that I gotta get a book about the history of martial arts for my assignment next week. Wanna come with me?”

“Where?”

“To the bookshop?” Mark answered, chuckling, but it sounded more like a question.

“Is there even a bookshop around?” Jinyoung wondered, having all the books he's ever needed borrowed from the library. Buying them was way to expensive but knowing Mark's family background, that clearly wasn't the problem for the elder.

“Of course there is. It's not even far from here.”

“Well then... why not?” Jinyoung shrugged and followed Mark down the smaller side alley towards the said bookshop.

“I still don't get why you have to buy all these books... you can just borrow them so that they don't take over our place.” Jinyoung said.

“Yeah but what if Jacks needs them next year?”

“He could borrow them again?” Jinyoung suggested with a chuckle but Mark just shook his head in disapproval, not getting what the younger was trying to tell him.

“So here we are~” he then smiled when they were standing in front of a rather small bookshop. Mark went to the cashier immediately. “Hey uhm... do you have a book about-”

Jinyoung didn't listen to their conversation. Instead, he just looked around the place, admiring how clean and sorted the shelves looked compared to the university library. But his mind's trip ended as soon as the cashier Mark was talking to started calling through the shop.

“Jaebum? Is the martial arts book still in stock?”

“Jaeb-” Jinyoung heard Mark gasping softly next to him.

Jinyoung's gaze shot up, following the direction the cashier was looking at and his breath stopped for a second.

“Ah~ I was just about to leave. Gotta pick up my daughter. What book do you mean?” Jaebum's familiar voice called back before said man peeked around the corner from behind one of the shelves. Jinyoung felt his insides turning upside down as soon as their eyes met.

The cashier said something that went completely unnoticed by Jinyoung who was just thinking about how he shouldn't have followed Mark to this place.

“Uhm... I'm not sure...” Jaebum mumbled, his eyes still focused on Jinyoung. He made a rather long pause before properly answering his colleague's question. “I'll just... look for it quickly. ...In the back...” He ended his statement by tilting his head to the side. Their gazes were still locked but Jinyoung didn't get the hint right away, too absorbed in weighing whether he should just turn around and leave in a histrionic way or behave like an adult right now and cry later.

Mark was faster to react as he kicked Jinyoung's ass with his knee, forcing him to take step forward. The younger turned around and threw his friend a sore glance.

“Go!” Mark hissed through his teeth while nodding his head towards the auburn-haired male standing on the other side of the shop. Jaebum had his teeth dug into his lips while he let his right hand running through his hair nervously, waiting for Jinyoung to do something, anything but standing there, staring at him.

Jinyoung took a deep breath. He didn't necessarily feel like doing so right now but eventually, all he could do was to follow Jaebum to the back of the shop with hesitant steps. One last glance towards Mark showed the elder giving him an encouraging nod.

 

“Didn't expect to see you here...” Jaebum mumbled while opening the door of the stock room.

“Me neither...” Jinyoung said. He had his hands shoved into his pockets, gaze fixed on the ground while leaning against the door frame, watching Jaebum pulling out a box from one of the shelves. “I thought you don't work in the afternoon.”

“The mother of Yoonhee's friend offered to pick her up today so I can work a bit longer...” the elder explained briefly while looking through the books in the box.

Jinyoung nodded and clicked his tongue. “That's nice.”

“It is.”

For a moment they kept silent. Jaebum pushed the box back into the shelf before pulling out a second one, looking through it as well. But then, he let out a rather loud sigh, looking up from his work to face the younger.

“How are you?”

“Oh I'm fine... a bit heartbroken but I'll get over that eventually. I mean... why am I even...?” Jinyoung said, trying to sound as casual as possible but the sarcasm in his voice was way too strong to be hidden.

Jaebum sighed again. “You know... I didn't expect that...”

“Neither did I.” Jinyoung said shortly. “So what about you? How's life?”

“You weren't answering my message... when you said we should keep in contact you weren't serious, were you?” Jaebum asked, ignoring the younger's question. “Please, Jinyoung. We're old enough to talk about this like adults.”

“Hmm... I was serious... but then I thought about the whole situation and how things turned to be so much different from what I was expecting... I just didn't know how to deal with that.”

Jaebum just nodded.

Jinyoung bit his lip, thinking about what to say. His eyes found Jaebum's again. “You know...when we started... meeting each other, I was glad you were drawing the line between your life with Yoonhee and... us so clearly. I thought this is a win win situation for the both of us, you're getting a break from life and me... well... getting some pretty decent orgasms. Neither of us was searching for a relationship but yes, my feelings changed. I tried playing it cool until Saturday but... it really hurt me that you're still willing to live two separate lives. Heck, I wouldn't even know how to face Yoonhee since I've never really interacted with children but... I felt the urge to know everything about you. You know everything about me so why shouldn't I know the most important part of your life? But I understand that your daughter comes first and if you don't want her to know about me then it's fine... Just not for me. That's why I thought we should end this. It saves you from whatever kind of trouble you're expecting and me from feeling like I'm your dirty little secret. That was exciting at first but... not anymore.”

“You're totally right about the first part.” Jaebum then admitted, sitting down on the box and running a hand though his hair again. “I wasn't searching for a relationship and I am afraid of what will happen if I introduced you to Yoonhee because the last thing I want is to hurt her in any way. And I thought telling her that there's now another person I love is a totally safe way to do so. But I really have to apologize to you... I never meant to make you feel like you're my dirty secret or whatever because that's nowhere near the truth of what I'm feeling.”

“Then what is it?” Jinyoung wondered, sliding down the wooden door frame and sitting on the floor with his now clammy hands resting on his bent knees.

“That's what I am still trying to figure out... but I know that it's more than just the convenience of having someone to get rid of some sexual frustration. It's definitely more and I don't feel like my problems are solved by not seeing you anymore.”

“But like I said: I don't want to continue like this, Jaebum.” Jinyoung sighed.

Once again, Jaebum took a deep breath before getting up from his seat. He walked the few steps over to Jinyoung, looking down at the younger. Then, he reached out his hand.

Jinyoung had his head leaning back against the wall behind him while he was staring at Jaebum with a poker face while repeatedly glancing at the hand held right in front of him. Yet, he didn't take it.

“I talked to Yoonhee. She asked me about her mother.” Jaebum then said, still not retreating his hand.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing but the truth.” Jaebum answered, smiling a bit to himself while remembering the fairy-tale references Yoonhee found to make things easier to understand. He didn't have to continue talking as Jinyoung finally reached out to grab his hand. Jaebum pulled the younger back up onto his feet before letting go of his hand again.

“So?” Jinyoung asked, patting the back of his pants to brush off the dust from the floor.

“Can you come to my place tonight? I have to tell you something and I rather not do that here in the stock room...”

Jinyoung's mouth was faster to react this time, voicing out the thoughts he had before he knew himself. “Are we going to talk or end up fucking again?”

Now, Jaebum couldn't help but let out a soft snicker before his expression turned serious again, seeing that Jinyoung meant it. “We're going to talk.”

“Jaebum what's taking so long here?” the voice of Jaebum's co-worker suddenly hollered through the place, ripping both men out of their moment. Mark's slightly whiny voice could be heard soon after. “I told you it's okay. I'll just order the book via internet.”

Right then, they appeared behind Jinyoung, Mark practically clinging onto the other man's sleeve while throwing Jinyoung and Jaebum an apologetic glance.

“Thanks Mark.” Jaebum said with a slight nod and the elder let go of his colleague's arm instantly. “But we're done here. Though I'm sorry I couldn't find the book.”

Mark waved his hand with a quick motion. “Don't worry about that.”

“Gotta go now.” Jaebum then stated under his breath. “Hope to see you later, Jinyoung.” he smiled softly when saying the younger's name before he pushed past them, grabbed his bag from behind the counter and headed out of the shop.

Jinyoung was still standing there, not having moved for the past few minutes. Only when Mark grabbed his wrist, he came back to reality.

“C'mon, let's go home.” the elder said in a calm voice while dragging Jinyoung outside.

 


	8. Chapter 8

“Daddy~” Yoonhee cheered as soon as Minah's mother let Jaebum step inside the apartment. Jaebum crouched down, spreading his arms.

“Yoonhee~” he sang, imitating her tone, smiling at the little girl before she ran into his embrace, hugging him tight. Minah's mother chuckled at the sight.

When they broke their greeting hug, Yoonhee grabbed Jaebum's wrist, tugging on it. “Daddy we built a castle. You have to see it.”

“You did what?” Jaebum laughed, throwing the woman beside them a questioning look.

“I don't think there's any more pillows or blankets left that's not a part of the castle.” she chuckled.

Quickly, Jaebum took his shoes off before letting himself being dragged through the apartment, into the child's room. And there was, indeed, a construct that could be seen as a castle. Dozens of pillows, blankets and even chairs were involved, creating a quite cozy place.

“You did this by yourselves?” Jaebum wondered. The two little girls giggled a synchronized “Yes.” and disappeared into their castle.

“I brought them the chairs but the rest was made by them.” Minah's mother said, surprising Jaebum a bit as he didn't notice that she's right beside him again.

“Daddy you gotta come inside!” Yoonhee called from behind the pillows. “It is really beautiful.”

Jaebum laughed and rolled his eyes before getting down onto his knees and crawling through the small entrance of the so called castle which was covered by just another cloth. The inside of the pillow building looked bigger than it seemed from the outside, seeing that two little girls and also dozens of plush animals fit in there easily. And of course, the infamous Frozen dolls.

“You did a really great job. That's even better than Elsa's castle... at least warmer.” Jaebum chuckled. “But Yoonhee? I fear you gotta leave the castle and come home with me now.”

“Nooo~” both girls whined in unison while hugging each other. Jaebum laughed, crawling out of the pillow castle again. He brushed some dust off his knees and fixed his shirt as he got up.

“You'll see each other tomorrow in kindergarten.” he then said.

At that, Yoonhee peeked through the cloth covering the entrance of the pillow castle. “But we don't have our castle there.”

Minah's mother shook her head. “No, but you can build a new one. And next week you can play here together again, alright?”

This had Jaebum looking towards her. “Again?”

“Yoonhee is such a sweet girl. It's not troublesome to take care of her at all so I really don't mind. I told you we'll help you out.”

Jaebum smiled at her and bowed a little. “Thank you so much, really.”  
“It's really no problem.” she said. “Now girls, come out of your castle. It's enough for today.”

Letting out a few more complaints, Yoonhee and Minah finally exited their hideaway. Jaebum quickly grabbed Yoonhee's hand to prevent her from running back in. He knew she was capable of doing so.

The girls hugged each other again before they all went towards the front door. Just as Jaebum and Yoonhee had put their shoes on, the door opened, revealing Minah's father.

“Oh.” the man said, laughing a bit. “As soon as I'm not home my wife invites young, handsome men?”

“I'm already gone.” Jaebum sang, chuckling, before bidding goodbye to the whole family and leaving the apartment with Yoonhee holding his hand.

 

As usual, Yoonhee told him about her day on their way home. What songs they sang in kindergarten, what they had for lunch, who she played with and last but not least, what she did with Minah earlier.

But today, Jaebum had to admit he was only partly listening to what the little girl was chattering about. And he felt more than bad about it but his mind was busy recalling the conversation he's had with Jinyoung earlier as well as thinking about the one that has yet to come.

Because no, he wasn't ready to introduce him to his daughter. But he also wasn't ready to tell Jinyoung good bye. So far, these two things were what got him into that miserable situation of having to decide. Of course, the decision didn't include Yoonhee or Jinyoung because that wouldn't be a decision. The decision was between overcoming his fear and letting Jinyoung into their live and... well... keep on being a coward. Because that's what he felt like by now but he couldn't help it.

“Daddy?” Yoonhee ripped him out of his thoughts by tugging on his sleeve. She only did that when he wasn't listening to her before.

“Sorry, princess... what did you say?”

“Can we get ice cream?” she pointed at the ice cream truck standing right in front of them.

Jaebum chuckled. “Right now? But we're going to have dinner soon. It's already late.”

“But I want ice cream~” Yoonhee smiled, looking up at him with those big eyes of hers while swaying her little body from side to side.

And Jaebum blamed it on his heavy and confused heart that his own, sudden craving for ice cream overcame the idea of strict parenting again as he nodded and walked up to the iceman, ordering a scoop of chocolate ice cream in a cone and a scoop of strawberry ice cream in a paper cup. Yoonhee tended to make a mess all over herself when eating ice cream out of a cone. Smiling happily, Yoonhee took the cup from the iceman while Jaebum handed him the money and wished him a nice afternoon.

With the ice cream cone in his left hand, Jaebum felt a bit more relaxed than before. It's true that chocolate was calming your nerves. His right hand reached down to get a hold on Yoonhee's hand again while he looked around for a place to sit down as walking and eating was something the four-year-old girl wasn't yet really capable of. He found the stone edging of a small flowerbed next to a restaurant and lifted Yoonhee up to sit on it before leaning against it right beside her.

“Strawberry is my favorite~” Yoonhee sang contently while spooning the cold, pink substance with a little blue plastic spoon. “What is your favorite ice cream, daddy?”

Jaebum thought for a moment before looking at the cone in his hand. “Chocolate I guess... why?”

“Because BamBam oppa likes strawberry too while Yugyeom oppa likes chocolate.”

“Seems like chocolate and strawberry ice cream is compatible.” Jaebum smiled and Yoonhee giggled.

“What ice cream does mommy like?”

“To be honest... I have no clue.” Jaebum said before laughing softly. “But most certainly not strawberry. We weren't compatible at all.” He bit his lip. He didn't really mean to say that aloud.

But Yoonhee just giggled as she continued shoveling the ice cream into her small mouth while hitting her heels against the stones she was sitting on.

Jaebum really tried hard not to think about Jinyoung again but there he was, wondering what the younger's favorite ice cream is.

 

 

***

 

_ From: YoungJae _

_Mark told me you're seeing Jaebum again today. seems like you're completely blinded by his dick or sth... but okay... if that's your choice then good luck :P (tho I'll never get how you're not into boobs... boobs are the best! Believe me!)_

 

Jinyoung chuckled slightly as he was reading the younger's messages. Well... maybe YoungJae was right. Not about the boobs but... he thought about it for hours already and Jaebum was trouble. And yes, Jaebum had a nice dick beside some other decent qualities Jinyoung found more than appealing. Starting with that sexy, slightly raspy but soothing voice...

So in the end, after Mark and Jackson coaxed him into giving Jaebum another chance, he gave in and admitted to them and himself that he's more than willing to do so. Because just like YoungJae said: he might or might not be blinded by... Jaebum. He quickly shook his head, trying to forget about the thought he's just had while walking up the stairs to said man's apartment.

He himself couldn't believe he was going there again. Because the question he threw into Jaebum's face earlier was still the most prominent one in his mind. What if this was just another case of 'We just wanted to talk but now we're all naked in bed again'?

No... no, Jinyoung wasn't going to have that. He came to talk to Jaebum like an adult, just as the other requested it. Then, he'll pick up his clothes and leave on good terms with the elder. Yep. What's gonna happen when they meet the next time is still in the stars, though.

Standing in front of the already familiar door, his hands became cold and sweaty again. His heart started beating even faster and the butterflies in his stomach signalized him just again, that a short conversation and a friendly good bye wouldn't be satisfying in any way after all. Not anymore.

Jinyoung took one last breath before softly knocking on the wooden door like he always did at night. It took around half a second for Jaebum to open it. Though Jinyoung has seen Jaebum like this before, it was still surprising to see the usually chic styled man dressed in gray sweats and a slightly over sized, red hoodie. “Hey.”

“Hi.” Jinyoung said, his voice giving up so that it came out as a mere whisper while he took off his shoes. As he put them aside, he noticed that his checked shirt was neatly folded, lying on the dresser right next to the entrance.

Jaebum must've noticed it. “In case you're about to forget it again.” he commented with a soft smile.

“We'll see.” Jinyoung said before following Jaebum into the kitchen.

“Wanna drink anything?” the elder then asked.

“Uh... if you're not mixing us a Mai Tai right now then no, thanks.” Jinyoung said. His voice was still a bit unstable because of his nervous state but he thought that joking might help him through that.

Jaebum answered with a chuckle. “Why's that?”

“It makes things easier... obviously.”

Now laughing, Jaebum shook his head before turning towards the fridge, getting two bottles of beer. “Here. I bought it for the two of us so you gotta drink at least one with me.”

“Alright.” Jinyoung said, taking the bottle Jaebum was handing him. His stomach had made a weird flip at Jaebum's last statement, making it hard for him to down the first gulp but eventually, he managed it without choking.

“While talking to Yoonhee...” Jaebum then started after a short break filled with silence while leaning against the kitchen table, right in front of Jinyoung who had his back pressed against the counter. “She wondered whether she'll get a new mother one day.”

Jinyoung could see his grip on the bottle tightening, even though he had his hand covered with the sleeve of the hoodie.

The younger then let out a slight snort. “Oh, so that's the deal...?”

Jaebum looked up at him and shook his head quickly while waving his right hand hastily. “No that's not the deal – definitely not. But straight to the point... she kinda... opened my eyes to the fact that she's not afraid of someone new and that it's probably just my very own fear. Even earlier I thought about it and... I think I just used her as an excuse.”

“Wow...” Jinyoung said. “That's...”

“I'm sorry.” Jaebum repeated, staring at the ground while stepping closer towards Jinyoung. “I wasn't treating you right but I hope I'll be better at this in the future...”

“You know what? When me met, I thought I am the one who hasn't figured his life out by now but... I got the feeling that you're even worse.”

“Might be about right.” Jaebum said, not even trying to deny what the younger had just implied. He might be the one raising a child but that didn't mean he was any more mature than Jinyoung was. Maybe he was when it came to organize and take care of whatever needs to be taken care of... but he definitely wasn't when it came to his own emotions. As for that, he was still stuck at nineteen, not knowing how to handle it, so he opted for just another nervous laughter. “But I'm really trying hard here, Jinyoung. That's why I hope you can forgive me. Because it's not easy to split love, you know?”

Jinyoung's eyes widened as he felt his heart beating out of his chest. Were the elder's words intended or was he just being clumsy with his wording? For a second, his face must've given him away before he could put on his poker face again, seeing how Jaebum's lips curled into a slightly brighter smile.

“No I don't know that.” Jinyoung then uttered quickly before taking a big gulp out of the cold bottle in his hand.

“Well it's pretty hard to do so. If I really was to let you meet Yoonhee, it might be even harder. Because then I'd have to do it all at once.”

“Nobody expects you to do that.”

Jaebum shifted his weight from one foot to the other, also sipping on his beer. “Really? That sounded differently to me last week.”

The smirk Jaebum had ended his statement with made Jinyoung catch up on the sarcastic tone. “It did? I don't think so... I can't even deal with kids.”

“Well you don't have to meet my daughter then. See me on weekends when she's not here. I'm fine with that.”

“You are?” Jinyoung asked, having put on a sly smirk as well. “Good then I'll be here on Saturdays only. Or just every second Saturday? Business as usual?”

“Ye-... no. Every Saturday is fine.”

“Okay. Every Saturday, no weekdays.” Jinyoung grinned with a nod and took another sip.

Jaebum sucked in a deep breath before pushing himself away from the kitchen table. He put his bottle onto it before taking a step towards Jinyoung. His hands quickly found their way to the counter on each side of the younger, trapping him. “Every Saturday until I introduce you to my daughter?”

“How long will it take?”

“Just a bit... more. I still think we gotta be careful.” the last word came out as a whisper as Jaebum was leaning closer towards the younger.

Jinyoung smiled at him before putting his bottle onto the counter behind him. “That answer sounds way better. You have improved.”

Laughing, Jaebum stuck his tongue out at him and detached his left hand from the counter again, reaching out to grab his shirt but Jinyoung swatted his hands away, still smirking.

“What?” Jaebum asked, looking a bit confused.

“You said we're going to talk.”

“We were talking.”

“So you think everything's said?” Jinyoung pushed the topic, still with a playful tone in his voice.

“I apologized to you, explained myself, agreed to your wish of meeting Yoonhee, you said you're fine with it... so... I think so?” Jaebum chuckled, his hand still only a few centimeters away from the younger's shirt.

“I just thought that... since you said you lo-... ah fuck this.” Jinyoung then laughed before pressing his lips against Jaebum's. The elder was finally able to grasp Jinyoung's shirt, playing with the fabric while moving his lips in a very slow manner. He didn't feel like rushing things this time and after their tongues had performed a short battle of dominance, Jinyoung had no choice but to follow the slow rhythm.

“I thought no weekdays.” Jaebum then chuckled, firmly pressing his lower body against him. The rough fabric of the younger's jeans could be felt through Jaebum's thin sweat pants, sending shivers down his spine.

“Starting tomorrow.” Jinyoung said before wrapping his arms around Jaebum's neck. Their current position was way too familiar. Whether they were looking for this or not, they found themselves making out in Jaebum's kitchen again, not thinking about stopping anywhere soon.

“Sounds reasonable.” Jaebum whispered against the younger's lips before sliding his hands down his waist, pushing the shirt up and sneaking his hands underneath.

Jinyoung gasped slightly as Jaebum's hands were cold. Not like beer bottle cold but nervous cold.

“Did you know we're gonna end up like this again?” Jinyoung asked in between the heavy breaths that left his lips.

Jaebum chuckled slightly while kissing a wet line along the younger's collarbone. “I don't know... did you?”

A soft moan escaped Jinyoung as Jaebum rocked his hips into him with a slow movement. “... Yes.”

Again, Jaebum snickered. “Sorry. I promised to be honest from now on.”

Jinyoung's fingers got a tighter hold onto Jaebum's hair and he tugged on it, forcing the elder into another kiss. This one was open mouthed but still far from rough and scampered.

The temperature between them was rising and Jaebum's cold hands seemed to become even colder against the younger's burning skin. Jinyoung's hands wandered down the elder's back, along his hips before he brought them underneath his own shirt to grab Jaebum's hands and pull them out again.

“Cold.” he whispered and placed the elder's hands against the counter behind him. Jaebum just hummed but was quick to intertwine their fingers as he spread his arms to force his body even closer, increasing the friction. They remained like this for a moment, softly moving against each other, kissing until the heat between them became almost uncomfortable for the slightly younger male.

“Jaebum...” he half-whispered, half-moaned. “I know these sweat pants of yours are a bit more... permissive but... let me remind you that I'm not wearing those.”

Jaebum just chuckled and backed away from Jinyoung without letting go of his hands. The other whined a bit but stopped immediately as Jaebum tugged on his hands, pulling him towards the sofa in the living room.

“Oh how daring~” Jinyoung smirked as he followed Jaebum who was walking backwards.

“I know right? But I fear we gotta move this to the bedroom later nonetheless.” the elder grinned before letting himself fall onto the sofa, pulling Jinyoung onto his lap.

“I wasn't talking about the location.” the younger chuckled while wrapping his arms around Jaebum's neck and shifting in his seat. “I was talking about how you're walking around the place without looking out for the Lego.”

Laughing, Jaebum stuck out his tongue at Jinyoung before attacking his lips with another kiss. His hands fumbled with the belt of Jinyoung's pants, finally opening the piece of clothing that was bothering him. The younger let out a sigh of relief and adjusted his position once again, burying his knees deeper into the sofa. Jaebum put his hands onto Jinyoung's hips, shoving the latter's jeans down by a bit, enough to reveal barely the half of his black underwear.

The tension between them is reminiscent of the one back in the club, where everything that mattered was to gain as much pleasure from the other as possible, not caring about their surroundings except for the drinks that were too expensive to be spilled. Of course, the quiet, dim lit living room was in no way comparable to the crowded night club but Jaebum's mind was just as clouded, distracted by the familiar addictive scent of the younger and the pleasing friction that was still created by his jeans. Jaebum pressed his hands against Jinyoung's back before sliding them just a tad bit lower, guiding him to keep the slow rhythm. The sound of clothes rustling against each other and the steady clanging of Jinyoung's belt buckle mixed themselves more and more in between the soft moans which where slightly hushed in their kisses. It was just them and these delicate noises for a sweet while. It was getting hotter between them with each movement, cold hands long forgotten, as they felt the familiar feeling of burning excitement running down their bodies.

When Jinyoung felt Jaebum's lips trembling hesitantly before pulling away, he expected the other to throw one of his infamous worried glances towards the door down the hallway but Jaebum bucked his hips up, meeting Jinyoung's with a thrust, coming undone and breaking their rhythm with a few more wet thrusts while letting out shaky, strained groans. Jinyoung gasped softly before letting out a quiet scoffing noise while Jaebum was still trying to get his senses back together. But the younger's amusement didn't last long before Jaebum shifted beneath him, meeting him in a slightly different angle that made him see stars not so soon after. And then they stopped moving, trying to catch their breaths while having their foreheads pressed against each other, eyes closed. Jinyoung only made a soft noise of complaint as the sticky wetness slowly soaked through his tight boxers and the back of his jeans.

“We better continue this in my bedroom now...” Jaebum then whispered, still panting slightly while letting go of Jinyoung's backside before taking the younger's hand, pulling him after him to said room. More privacy was needed.


	9. Chapter 9

When Jinyoung woke up he refused to open his eyes. Jaebum's warmth was way too comfortable to accept the fact that the day has begun. Or has it even begun yet? He didn't know what time it was but he also didn't care. It was Thursday which meant that his lecture started in the afternoon and he was sure to be awake by then. Whether he was ready to go then was a different thing though.

But right now, he decided to shift closer to Jaebum again, cuddle up against the other while drifting back to sleep.

And it almost worked if it wasn't for the fact that he needed to use the bathroom. Now. Letting out a long sigh, he forced himself to open his eyes while carefully unwrapping Jaebum's arm from around his waist and rolling to the side. While slowly getting used to the reddish morning light falling through the window, Jinyoung yawed and rubbed his right eye. The color of the light meant that it was pretty early as the sun was only starting to rise. Yet, out of curiosity, he threw a glance at the alarm clock on Jaebum's nightstand. Five thirty in the morning. What a nice time to be awake.

Yawing once more, Jinyoung crawled out of the bed and made his way to the door. Only now he realized how sticky his whole body felt after last night and how much he was craving for a shower, regardless the time. He quickly slipped into the bathroom, closed the door behind him and after doing the business that made him come here, he hopped into the shower to wash off almost every hint of what happened last night. Except for the hickeys that Jaebum loved to place on his body where only he could see it. Smiling, Jinyoung let his fingers run over the purplish bruise right above his left hip bone, remembering the ticklish feeling of Jaebum's lips on that particular spot.

After stepping out of the shower, Jinyoung grabbed a towel from the shelf beneath the sink, drying his body before wrapping the white cloth around his waist. He then opened the bathroom door, about to make his way back to the bedroom but that's when he realized it.

The big pair of dark brown eyes staring at him. He stared back.

Neither of them moved while Jinyoung quickly grasped the towel, clutching it tightly with the same force Yoonhee was hugging her rabbit with. She little girl then let her eyes travel up and down Jinyoung's almost naked body, mouth wide agape. The shocked male still wasn't able to move. And then it came how it had to come.

“DADDYYY~~~” Yoonhee screamed on top of her lungs while running towards her father's bedroom. “Daddy there's naked man in the living room!!”

Face still covered in shock, Jinyoung let a hand run though his dripping wet hair while leaning his back against the bathroom door. He really didn't think things through when leaving the bedroom earlier. When Jaebum said he wanted to be careful, he surely didn't mean a half-naked Jinyoung accidentally running into the little girl early in the morning.

Yoonhee jolted into the bedroom, ungently jumping on top of Jaebum who was already sitting in bed, in the process of waking up after hearing the little girl's scream.

“Ugh~ what happened, princess? Why are y-” but that's when his still sleepy brain recalled the words his daughter had just screamed and combined it with the fact that Jinyoung wasn't lying beside him. “Oh my god...”  
“Daddy who is the naked man? Why did he use our bathroom?”

“Uhm....” Jaebum ruffled his already messy hair before rubbing some sleep out of his eyes. Yoonhee was still sitting on top of him, tightly clutching the blanket and her plush rabbit while looking at her father with a scared expression. “It's alright, princess... he's not a stranger...”

Jaebum's eyes met Jinyoung's equally nervous ones for a second. The younger had grabbed his shirt and boxers from the shelf beside the front door and was now standing on the threshold to the bedroom, leaning against the frame while having his arms crossed in front of his chest.

“His name is Jinyoung... and... he's a really good friend of mine...” Jaebum then said, quickly continuing after hearing the younger man letting out a soft gasp. “And by really good friend I mean... uh... you know...”

But of course the little girl didn't know. Seeing Jaebum continuously looking up, she also turned around, mustering Jinyoung with another glance. The latter didn't dare looking back at her so he just stared at the ground. Jaebum started playing with Yoonhee's hair, trying to get her attention again until she finally looked back at him again.

“Yoonhee... remember when you asked me whether you'll get a new mommy one day?”

Yoonhee nodded, eyes and mouth still wide open.

“Well um...” Another nervous glance at Jinyoung followed. The latter had just sneaked into the room, grabbing a pair of black sweatpants from Jaebum's closet. “I... You... What would you think of a second daddy instead?”

A pregnant silence followed. Yoonhee was staring at him in disbelief and so did Jinyoung, frozen in his action of knotting the white drawstring.

Yoonhee was the first one to move. She slid off of Jaebum, to the empty side of the bed where she sat down again, cross-legged, with Mr. Rabbit on her lap. Her big eyes were focused on Jinyoung who gave the cord of the sweatpants one last tug to complete the knot.

Jaebum's eyes were nervously switching between his daughter and his lover. This really wasn't what he imagined their first encounter to be like.

“Uh...” Jinyoung then said, running his hand through his wet hair once again while sitting down on the floor, copying Yoonhee's pose. “Hello... Yoonhee.”

The little girl tilted her head to the side before crawling to the edge of the bed, sliding down the mattress and shuffling over to Jinyoung.

Jaebum could only watch the scene with widened eyes, his breath stuck in his throat. Jinyoung threw him another glance before Yoonhee stood right in front of him, their eye level on the same height.

“Hello.” she then said, giving him a toothy grin which neither of the two men expected. Yoonhee held her tiny hand towards him, waiting for Jinyoung to take it. After hesitating a bit, he finally brought himself to smile as he accepted the handshake. Yet, the soft, warm hands slightly brushing against his were such an unfamiliar feeling that he quickly withdrew his hand again, letting it drop onto his lap. Yoonhee didn't seem to notice his hesitation after all as she held her plushie's paw up right after. “Mr. Rabbit also says hello...”

Jaebum couldn't help but let out a short chuckle seeing the confusion in Jinyoung's face as the latter reached out to shake Mr. Rabbit's paw, mumbling a low “Hello, Mr. Rabbit.”

“Yoonhee princess? Will you go to the bathroom already? I'll be right there so we can wash up and brush our teeth together, alright?” Jaebum then said, using the probably softest voice Jinyoung has ever heard him talking with.

“Yes, daddy~” Yoonhee sang, giving Jinyoung one last smile before hopping out of the room. The latter just sat there, totally shocked by what's just happened. He was only ripped out of his thoughts when Jaebum pushed the blanket aside with a loud sigh and sat on the edge of the mattress.

“Now that was...”

“I'm sorry....” Jinyoung then said. “I shouldn't have been wandering around the place at this time...”

But instead of agreeing to that, Jaebum only shook his head, smiling softly while looking down at his feet. “No... no I guess it's alright. She didn't seem too shocked, right? I guess that just proves that I was wrong assuming she'd have a problem with it...”

“Well I think she did look shocked when she first saw me and started screaming right after.” Jinyoung chuckled, having the elder laughing as well while getting up and making his way to the closet to grab a pair of boxers.

“Yeah but you see... it passed just as quick as it came. Now excuse me for a moment, I gotta brush my teeth.”

Still laughing, Jinyoung got up from the floor now. “Shall I make something for breakfast?”

Taken by surprise, Jaebum stopped in his tracks and turned around to face the younger again. “What?”

“Breakfast? I thought I'm the _second daddy_ now... so I might as well make breakfast.”

Jinyoung swore, he's never seen Jaebum blushing before but right here, in the already less red light of the morning sun, he could still make out the faint hint of pink on the elder's face. “Nyeong... I just said it because...”  
“Nah... it doesn't change the fact that you said it.” Jinyoung chuckled before parading out of the room, towards the kitchen.

Jaebum just sighed and left for the bathroom.

When he entered, Yoonhee was already standing there, waiting for him with her toothbrush in her hand. With a soft smile on his face, Jaebum closed the door behind him and grabbed the toothpaste.

“Mr. Rabbit said he likes him.” Yoonhee started while Jaebum squeezed some of the blue substance onto her toothbrush. He chuckled.

“Is that so? I'm glad to hear that but what about you?”

Having stuffed the small pink toothbrush into her mouth, Yoonhee's answer was absolutely incomprehensible.

“What?” Jaebum laughed while reaching for his own toothbrush.

“I think he's okay.” the little girl repeated, this time more clearly for Jaebum to understand.

Okay. Jaebum didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. Okay wasn't the best thing to think of a person. Okay meant... well... okay. And Jaebum surely thought much more of Jinyoung than the latter being okay.

But Yoonhee didn't really know Jinyoung yet. They just met and the girl was probably still surprised... that must be it, Jaebum thought. That one time when they met at the supermarket didn't count. Yoonhee couldn't possibly remember that. Also, Jaebum couldn't expect Yoonhee to like Jinyoung at first sight... like he himself did, as far as he could remember his drunk thoughts from back then.

 

“Did she say anything?” Jinyoung asked as soon as Jaebum stepped into the kitchen, dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a slightly over-sized, light blue shirt. Jinyoung was standing by the toaster, waiting for the toast to be ready.

“Hmm...” Jaebum hummed, plopping down onto one of the chairs. “Not much. Mr. Rabbit likes you.”

Jinyoung chuckled while grabbing the fresh toast with two fingers, literally throwing it into a bowl before putting it onto the table.

That's when Yoonhee appeared next to them again, having dressed herself with the clothes Jaebum put out of the closet in the evening before, like usually. Well, half dressed as she was holding both sides of her button-up jeans dress apart. Only the first two buttons were done but combined with completely wrong buttonholes.

“Jesus!” Jinyoung gasped, quickly covering his eyes and turning away to face the kitchen hood.

“Daddy can you help me please? I can't do this alone.” Yoonhee asked, completely unaware of making Jinyoung flustered by storming into the kitchen like that.

Jaebum started laughing at Jinyoung's reaction while telling Yoonhee to come over with a simple gesture. The little girl smiled and hopped over, letting Jaebum fix the buttons of her dress and tug on her hooped pink tights to adjust it a bit. “There you go.” he then smiled at her, gently patting her head before chuckling again. “Jinyoung you can open your eyes now. She's dressed.”

“Good.” Jinyoung mumbled, slowly turning around again. Yoonhee had already taken place on her high chair which she was able to climb by herself.

“Do you always eat breakfast with us now?” she then asked Jinyoung who just sat down as well grabbing a piece of toast.

“Uh...” Jinyoung sent Jaebum a short glance before staring at his toast. “I... don't know. If... that's okay for you... and your... daddy...”

“Hmm...” Yoonhee shrugged and took a bite of her toast.

“Yoonhee, let's talk about that later, okay?” Jaebum jumped in before she could say anything else. “We have to eat now so that you'll be on time. You don't wanna miss the morning song, right?”

Shaking her head, Yoonhee took another bite, still staring at Jinyoung. If you asked the latter, he wouldn't call it a stare but a glare.

 

***

 

“Oh fuck!”

“The heck!”

“Shit!”

YoungJae, Jackson and Mark exclaimed in unison. In addition, Jackson dropped the piece of kimbap he was holding with his chopsticks.

Jinyoung just sighed while nodding. “Yep. I think it couldn't have been worse.”

“You could've left the towel in the bathroom...” Jackson suggested, only to receive a glare from his friends. He only lifted his left hand in defeat while mouthing “Okay.”

“And then?” Mark asked with a worried expression.

“She screamed and ran away to wake Jaebum.”

Nobody reacted to that. The three boys were just staring at Jinyoung with o-shaped mouths while he was shoving the kimbap from one side of the plastic box in front of him to the other.

It was later that day and they were sitting in the university cafeteria, on a table in the outer corner. Still, some other students were sitting beside them and Jinyoung could feel their glances on him as well. Especially that one blonde girl had a shocked expression all over her face that was almost similar to YoungJae's. He knew the cafeteria wasn't the best place to talk about this kind of topic but Jackson convinced him into telling them right away instead of waiting until they got home. Now he was sure that the whole campus would know within a few days. Even people who didn't know his name, which were probably more than the ones who did, would be gossiping about Jinyoung having married an older woman, hooked up with a family father, knocked up a girl or whatnot. But Jinyoung wasn't the type to care about such a thing. He had other things to worry about, especially now.

“I gotta go now...” Jackson then said. “My lecture starts in a few minutes. You gotta tell me more when we come home, okay?”

“Okay, Jackson.” Jinyoung nodded before finally eating a piece of kimbap.

“Oh wait, I'll come with you. I'm also having a lecture now.” Mark then said, stuffing one last bite into his mouth before grabbing the plastic box and his bag and heading after his boyfriend.

“When do you have to go?” YoungJae asked Jinyoung.

“Half an hour.” the latter answered.

“Okay, me too.” YoungJae nodded. “But say... what do you think of doing now?”

“Finishing my meal and-”

“That's not what I meant.” YoungJae chuckled. “I was talking about your lover and the kid.”

Sighing again, Jinyoung shrugged. “I don't know but... Jaebum said... things...”

The younger's eyes widened. “What kind of things?”

“He... told Yoonhee that I'm her second daddy now.”

Gasping, YoungJae dropped his chopsticks. “He did what?! So you're officially dating now or what does that mean? You're gonna move in with them or...?”

“Oh god no... And I don't know what that meant. Later he sounded like he said it as a joke but... I mean I don't know much about children but... you shouldn't tell them things like that as a joke.” Jinyoung said, also putting his chopsticks aside to rub his hands over his face.

“Surely not.” YoungJae agreed. “But Jinyoung... you have to tell him that you don't want to be her second daddy.”

“What if I do?” Just again, Jinyoung surprised himself with that statement. His feelings knew that for a while already but right now, that attitude reached his mind, making him aware of how hard he had actually fallen for the slightly elder. And by that he meant for Jaebum and everything that came along with loving him. After all, he was the first to ask for an encounter with Yoonhee for a reason. Of course, he was just curious at first but he quickly came to realize that there wasn't really a way of turning back once Yoonhee knew about his existence in Jaebum's life. And maybe, that's just what he wanted. Something to force him to make a decision. “I mean... it's not like I _want_ to... but I'm not... completely against it either... I just think she's not that fond of me.”

“Of course not. You're fucking her daddy.”

“She better not know about that.” Jinyoung snorted, unable to hide his blush. “But I think... she does notice that I'm totally unable to interact with her. I mean how do you handle four-year-old girls? What do you talk about with them? How do you look at them? How do you react to what they're saying?”

“How should I know?” YoungJae shrugged and took his chopsticks again, continuing to eat. “But... though I still think that this is a stupid idea... you should probably just talk to Jaebum, don't you think?” he then suggested with his mouth full of rice.

“Hmm... but it looks so easy when he does it. Every time I just hear him talking about Yoonhee, I feel like dealing with a kid is sometimes a bit stressful... but not difficult at all.”

“Well he's used to it.”

Groaning, Jinyoung ran his right hand through his hair. “Can't I get used to it faster then?”

“So you really want that, huh?”

“YoungJae in case you didn't notice... I have a thing for the girl's father, regardless whether that means becoming a dad or not.”

“I noticed.” YoungJae chuckled. “But whatever you're going to ask me, I can't give you any more advice than that.”

“I know...” Jinyoung sighed. “Still... thanks. I actually thought you're going to talk me out of this...”

“Dude... I know better than that.” YoungJae said with a wink before stuffing another piece of kimbap into his mouth.


	10. Chapter 10

Jaebum cursed loudly, feeling the stinging pain in his right foot after dropping the book onto it.

“You're okay?” his co-worker Jeongmin asked from the other side of the shop, a slight hint of amusement in his voice since Jaebum wasn't the one to curse a lot during the ten months they've known each other for.

“Hmm...” Jaebum just hummed while picking up the English history novel and sorting it into the shelf. “I just dropped some heavy reading onto my foot.”

“Usually, I'm the clumsy one of us.” the same-aged boy laughed before returning to his task of unpacking the newly arrived books. “Thank god our shift is over soon, you seem to be a bit out of it today. But I feel you, Mondays suck.”

“No shit...” Jaebum hissed again, under his breath, making the other boy shut up in an instant. “Sorry, I just... had a distressing weekend.”

“It's okay...” Jeongmin said in a calmer voice now. “I can put the rest of the books into the shelf. Just go home for now.”

“Are you sure?” Jaebum said, putting the five books in his hands aside.

“Yep. My girlfriend's not home anyways, so it doesn't matter when I'm a bit late today. Now leave! I'll cover for you if the boss comes earlier.”

“Thanks, man.” Jaebum sighed, running his hands over his face while walking around the shelves.

“Nah... it's not much of a big deal.” Jeongmin smiled, patting his shoulder once Jaebum went past him.

The red-haired then grabbed his bag. “I owe you one, though.”

“Whatever~”

With that, Jaebum left the shop. The weather outside was beautiful. The sun was shining brightly, though the weather has become colder by now. The hint of color on the trees signalized that summer has ended for this year and fall was only days away from reaching its peak.

But even though Jaebum liked this kind of weather, he couldn't care less at this moment. The past Saturday has passed differently from what he wished for and that was all he could think about today, making his mind go crazy over the whole situation. What did he do wrong in life to deserve such kind of unnecessary hardships? And what was even worse, was that he didn't even know who to blame this time. It wasn't really his own fault, it wasn't Jinyoung's fault and it sure as hell, wasn't Yoonhee's fault either. Or maybe it was his own after all. At least regarding the fact that Jinyoung hasn't contacted him since.

 

_*** flashback ***_

 

“Elsa~ wake up, wake up~” little Anna squeaked while hopping on top of her sister, trying to wake the white haired girl so that they can play in the snow together. For the nth time on Jaebum's TV.

“And we really have to watch this movie again?” Jaebum chuckled, looking at Yoonhee who was staring at the screen with widened eyes, mouthing along with the words spoken in the movie while already dressed in her pajamas. She only nodded at Jaebum's question. Amused at how this movie never failed to capture his daughter like that, Jaebum rolled his eyes, still chuckling.

That's when they heard someone knocking on the door. For the first time ever, Yoonhee's attention was torn away from the TV. Instead, she was looking at Jaebum now.

“Is Jinyoung-ssi going to watch the movie with us?” she asked while Anna and Elsa started running around the palace, playing with ice and snow.

“Yes. Is that okay?” Jaebum asked, getting up from the couch.

“Hm.” Yoonhee hummed with a confirming nod, showing Jaebum a soft smile before looking back to the TV. Almost instantly, she covered her eyes, wincing at the moment where Elsa's force hits Anna. Jaebum ruffled her hair and left to finally open the door for Jinyoung.

“You know you can press the doorbell now?” Jaebum said with a smirk on his lips as soon as his eyes fell on the younger man standing outside of the apartment.

“Whoops. Well it's a habit now I guess...” Jinyoung chuckled.

“We'll work on that.” Jaebum grinned, stepping aside to let Jinyoung in. When the door fell shut behind them, the elder was quick to steal a kiss from the black-haired boy's lips. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Jinyoung was still smiling while taking off his shoes the beige coat that was already so familiar on him for Jaebum.

“We already started the movie, Yoonhee was so nervous.”

“It's okay. What are we watching, by the way?”

In that moment, Jaebum cleared his throat while lifting his right index finger. And then, in complete sync with the TV and his daughter he started singing. “Do you wanna build a snowman~”

“Oh my...” Jinyoung laughed. “Okay, whatever you want.”

“Believe me, I didn't want that. That's Yoonhee's choice.” Jaebum whispered before reaching for Jinyoung's hand. The younger stopped laughing, feeling all nervous again. This wasn't just some Netflix and chill with his lover... this evening was way more important than that.

Gulping, Jinyoung let Jaebum drag him towards the living room.

Yoonhee was, of course, still sitting on the couch, legs crossed and the familiar white rabbit on her lap. Along with that there was a packet of gummy bears which she wasn't even touching, being too busy singing along to Anna's song.

“Hey, Yoonhee.” Jinyoung greeted the little girl, trying to sound more happy than nervous. Obviously, she didn't notice.

“Hello Jinyoung-ssi. We are watching my favorite movie.” She flashed him a smile, just like she did the day before. But then, she patted the couch right next to her. “Daddy you missed the snowman song.”

“It's not even over yet.” Jaebum chuckled at her while sitting down again, pulling Jinyoung to sit on his right side while Yoonhee sat on his left.

“What is this movie about?” Jinyoung asked while Jaebum handed him the bowl he had filled with M&M's, offering him to take a handful.

“Uh... so these two girls are sisters. The blonde one has some kind of power to manipulate ice and snow but she doesn't really know how to control it yet so she accidentally hurt her sister with it once. Now she's afraid that she might hurt others as well and so she stopped talking to people, even her sister.” Jaebum explained shortly while Yoonhee let out a soft, whining sound.

In the corner of his eye, Jinyoung watched Yoonhee shifting even closer towards Jaebum, clutching the sleeve of his hoodie and burying her face into his side as the movie hinted that the parents of the two girls have died.

“It gets better, I swear.” Jaebum was now whispering while letting his fingers run through Yoonhee's hair to calm her down a bit. Jinyoung just nodded, reaching for another handful of M&M's, shoving it into his mouth all at once. He didn't feel comfortable on this couch today, sitting here, stiff like vegetables, with his knees pressed together, back leaning straight against the backrest...

Yep, this was so different from Netflix and chill with Jaebum... Usually, they wouldn't pay attention to the movie. They would just cuddle, kiss, touch, make out, feeling all sexy and... well, Netflix and chill.

Jinyoung squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. Only then, he felt Jaebum moving next to him. He has pulled his feet up onto the couch and crossed his legs just like Yoonhee did before. Said girl has crawled up onto his lap and was now sitting there, back pressed against Jaebum's chest. The elder had one arm slung around her which she was hugging just as tight as Mr. Rabbit while playing with his fingers.

Jinyoung was still frozen next to the pair. That pun though...

They stayed like that for good half an hour before Yoonhee started bouncing up and down in excitement. She looked turned to look at Jinyoung, reaching out to pat his knee. “This is my favorite song.” she beamed while Jaebum was laughing at her, trying to make her sit still again by hugging her even tighter with both arms now. “Minah and I are always singing it in kindergarten.”

Jinyoung was still staring at the spot were the tiny hand has touched him, not even realizing that while Yoonhee was wiggling around, Jaebum has shifted closer towards him so that the latter's knee was now grazing his thigh. He only noticed the warmth when he looked up again while Yoonhee was singing loudly. Being as excited as she was, she would be tumbling off Jaebum's lap now if it wasn't for her father holding her in place.

Jinyoung couldn't help but smile at the scene beside him. Yoonhee singing her lungs out, leaning all her weight into Jaebum's hold. Yet, Jinyoung wasn't amazed by how much Yoonhee loved this movie, he was amazed by the way Jaebum was dealing with her excitement. He's calm but laughing as if he was just as amused as she was.

“Say... how many times has she seen this movie?” Jinyoung then asked.

Sighing but still chuckling, Jaebum shrugged. “I don't even know how often I have seen it...”

“Oh dear.” Jinyoung laughed.

“But I looooove~ this movie.” Yoonhee exclaimed, again wiggling in her seat. “It's the best!”

“Sure it is...” Jaebum said, deeming it safe to unwrap his right arm from around Yoonhee again, putting his hand onto Jinyoung's lap instead while smiling at the younger.

Jinyoung gladly took Jaebum's hand, intertwining their fingers to which the elder responded with another smile. “You know... you don't have to sit here like you're a teenager meeting your prom date's parents.” Jaebum then whispered, tugging a bit on Jinyoung's hand as Yoonhee broke into the last chorus of “Let it go”.

“Look who's talking now.” Jinyoung said, sticking out his tongue at Jaebum before finally bringing up his feet onto the couch as well, leaning his head against the elder's shoulder.

“That's better.” Jaebum smiled

 

They remained like this until the end of the movie. Well, almost like this. Yoonhee fell asleep on top of Jaebum while Jinyoung has shifted closer and closer with every song that made Yoonhee unaware of his actions so now there was no chance for Jaebum nor Jinyoung to move without waking the little girl again.

“Won't she... you know... fall asleep again when she's in bed?” Jinyoung asked, his voice barely audible for Jaebum now in the quiet living room.

“Maybe... maybe not...” Jaebum answered. “But it seems like we have to find out anyway.”

“Hmm...” Jinyoung hummed before slowly and carefully pulling his left arm away from between Jaebum and the couch's backrest and slowly withdrawing his right hand from Jaebum's thigh. He managed this quiet enough to have Yoonhee sleep through it but as soon as Jaebum tried getting up while lifting her, she stirred in her sleep, rubbed her eyes and woke up eventually.

Jinyoung grimaced at that, falling back against the armrest.

“Sorry...” Jaebum whispered while steadying his hold around Yoonhee. “Just go back to sleep, okay?”

“Can't we watch Tangled now?” Yoonhee mumbled, wrapping one arm around Jaebum's neck while still rubbing her eyes with the other one.

Chuckling, Jaebum shook his head. “Nope. You're going to bed now.”

Instead of protesting, Yoonhee just hummed at that, showing that she was indeed still half-asleep. Jaebum carried her to her room, put her into her bed and tugged her in. But that's when her eyes opened again.

“Daddy?” Yoonhee then asked while pulling the blanket closer to her chin.

“Yes, princess?” Jaebum crouched down beside her bed, stroking a strand of hair out of her face.

“I still think that Jinyoung-ssi is okay... but...”

“But what?” Jaebum felt his hands becoming cold in a instant. He felt better after this evening, seeing how it was quite comfortable with the two of them together. Yet, this one little word made him feel even worse than before.

“Minah and the others in kindergarten said that... I can't have two daddies. Because you need a mommy and a daddy.”

Jaebum closed his eyes and let out a long breath, his hand on Yoonhee's forehead froze. “Yoonhee,... can... we talk about this tomorrow? You have to sleep now.”

“Okay, daddy.” Yoonhee then said before her eyes fell shut again, probably ready to fall asleep any second. Jaebum gave her one more kiss onto the forehead before getting up and walking to the door, only to freeze again.

He didn't know when Jinyoung had followed them but now, the latter was standing in the door frame, one hand in his hair, the other hugging his own waist.

Jaebum then brought his index finger up to his lips, signalizing Jinyoung to step back before saying anything. The breath he was holding didn't even leave his lips after he shut the door behind them, leaning against the wall right beside the wooden portal. He was just looking at Jinyoung.

“Is this really a good idea?” the younger then whispered after a short pause filled with nothing but silence.

“How should I know? I've never been in such a situation, Jinyoung.” Jaebum sighed again, running right right hand through his hair. “But we're in it now and all we can do is making the best out of it.”

“Damn... I guess you were right when you said that Yoonhee shouldn't know about us. I'm sorry for all of this...”

“No... no you were right. When you said that it's only fair to let her know...”

“She's now doubting your judgment. That's not the way it should be.”

“I will talk to her tomorrow... Of course the kids in kindergarten are saying stuff like that. All they know about love and families is what they see at home and in Disney movies. You can't blame them.”

“I know, I know...” Jinyoung sighed, slowly walking a circle in the living room. He then stopped next to the Lego box, grabbing a handful of bricks and putting it together in a random way. “But I feel bad for putting you through this... and Yoonhee-”

“Yoonhee's going to be fine. You've seen her earlier. She's not disgusted or anything...”

“She said I'm okay... I don't think that's a reason to celebrate.”

“Of course it's not but we can work on that, right?”

“I don't know... can we?” Jinyoung asked. “I can't even talk to her. I don't know anything when it comes to that kind of stuff. I can't help but feel awkward around her and you know that.”

“Jin-” Jaebum was about to argue with that, telling Jinyoung that he was doing great today, that he couldn't be happier seeing how Jinyoung put up with everything until here and that he was looking forward to the moment when he finally warmed up around his daughter but the younger beat him to it.

“I'll get going now, okay? I think you should talk it out with Yoonhee first before... I don't even know.”

“As long as you're not leaving for good now...” Jaebum said. “Cause I'm willing to try.”

Jinyoung didn't answer. He just stood there, his back facing the elder boy while he was still fumbling with the Lego bricks he put together.

Pushing himself away from the wall, Jaebum walked towards Jinyoung, not hesitating before wrapping his arms around the younger from behind. “I hope you can try, too.”

Jinyoung froze for a second before letting his body relax again, leaning back into Jaebum's embrace. His head dropped back against the elder's shoulder.

“Jaebum... I know I told you otherwise before... but now I know that Yoonhee... isn't the only one who needs some more time. Okay?”

“Okay...”

 

 _*** still flashback_  ***

 

“I still can't believe they told her that...”

“Kids can be cruel sometimes, I know that. My boyfriend is one himself.” BamBam chuckled from the other side of the line. “Stop stressing so much about it. You just have to prove the other kids wrong and show Yoonhee that it's perfectly fine like this. Really hyung, sometimes I think you're the younger one of us two.”

“Ah shut it, Bam... I'm just worried, that's all. It blocked my reasonable way of thinking.” Jaebum shighed, running a hand over his face. “I don't want Yoonhee to go through whatever shit other kids are able to perform.”

“Like I said, just prove them wrong and tell Yoonhee not to listen to their bullshit.”

“Language B-”

“You were just swearing yourself!”

“Whatever... The thing is that Yoonhee is four. How is she supposed to separate bullshit from other things?” Jaebum sprawled himself onto the couch now. It's been two hours since he brought Yoonhee to bed, one and a half since Jinyoung left.

“She'll learn how to... I know what I'm talking about.” BamBam assured him. “Have you talked to Jinyoung about it?”

Jaebum closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “That's the second problem... he heard Yoonhee saying it, told me he also needs some more time and left soon after.”

“Hyung, I hope you're not actually surprised...” BamBam's voice came out higher than before. Jaebum switched the side he's holding the phone, now pressing it against his right ear.

“Bam, please... you're not helping me if you're just scolding me.” he sighed. “I don't get how this one sentence could throw him off like that...”

“You can't be that thick, can you?” Jaebum could practically _hear_ his best friend rolling his eyes on the other side of the phone. “The problem _might_ not be that one sentence.”

“What are you even talking about? I've spoken to him about everything and we agreed on trying...”

“I know you did. But don't you think he might be a bit overwhelmed after all? Just now, you called me, asking for advice regarding Yoonhee... do you realize something?”

“I realize that I'm putting my daughter first, yeah.” Jaebum deadpanned.

BamBam let out some weird noise. “Hyung! Yes, that's alright and nice but don't you think you should at least help Jinyoung if you want him to stay with you?”

Jaebum huffed loudly. “I can't do anything right, can I?”

Now, BamBam was chuckling again. “Damn it, Jaebum! Stop saying that. You're doing great. You're an awesome helicopter dad, you know?”

“Why do I think that's not a compliment.”  
“Because it is none. Anyways, what I'm trying to tell you is... that you might have to take Jinyoung by the hand. He's not like you, having raised a child for more than four years. He's also not like me, having a friend with a kid and also not like Gyeomie... who is a kid.”

Normally, Jaebum would've countered twice already, saying that BamBam was just as much of a child as his boyfriend was but it were times like these, like these kind of talks, that made him aware of the fact that BamBam wasn't a kid anymore. Well, he still was most of the time. But going to university and having a real relationship had a huge impact on BamBam's maturity. At least that's what Jaebum thought. He's never had both of it and now he's the one taking advice from his three years younger friend. Just great. He let out a loud groan, hitting his head back against the couch while running his free hand through his hair. “I'm such an idiot...”

“I hear you noticed where you were wrong? Was Jinyoung mad at you?”

“I... don't know. I guess we're fine and he's just afraid...”  
“Give him a hug next time. Or give him something else... he won't mind... but please don't take it for granted that everybody knows how to deal with kids. Because Jinyoung certainly doesn't.”

Jaebum felt incredibly stupid now. Jinyoung sure mentioned his helplessness a few times but he never took it seriously. “Shit...” he mumbled, more to himself than to BamBam, who was still on the other side of the line.

Only when he heard a soft shuffling noise, Jaebum opened his eyes again.

“Our teachers always say that we cannot say this word, daddy.” Yoonhee said while padding towards Jaebum. He immediately sat upright again, fixing his messed up clothes and hair.

“Sorry, princess. I know that's a bad word. Bam? I gotta hang up. Thanks for... you know...”

“Sure.” BamBam said before the phone went silent.

“Yoonhee... you should be asleep. Do you even know what time it is?” Jaebum sighed while reaching for his daughter, lifting her up onto his lap again.

She shook her head. “I had a bad dream.”

Jaebum hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head. “Oh really? Tell me... what did you dream of?”

“I can't remember.” she sniffled. “But there was someone yelling at me.”

“Why would anyone yell at you?” Jaebum asked. He didn't know why the little girl would even think of something like that. He can't remember having ever yelled at her. Sure, he's raised his voice before but yelling? He'd never do that. “Has anyone ever done that?”

Now Yoonhee nodded.

“At you?” Jaebum gasped but the second Yoonhee shook her head again, his breathing became slower again. “Of course not...”

“But sometimes, teachers yell at the boys in my group when they do something wrong.”

Jaebum hummed. He knew about that. Some parents were talking about yelling teachers at parent meetings, asking for reasons. But he's never thought about the fact that it might also scare Yoonhee, even though she's not the one being yelled at. He made a mental note to support the other parents more when they're trying to talk to said teachers.

“But daddy? When Jinyoung-ssi is my second daddy, he will never yell at me, right?”

Now, Jaebum was chuckling. Yoonhee was always having the most far-fetched worries. “Of course not. Why would he?”

“In movies, the new mommy is always mean. But there is never a new daddy.”

Jaebum shrugged, swaying from left to right a bit to calm the girl a little. “Those are movies. New mommies are also nice mommies. Most of them, that is.” he smiled. “And so are new daddies, okay?”

“But Minah said...”

“I know what she said. But that's not true. You can have two daddies or two mommies as well as having mommy and daddy. That's totally fine.”

“But the others also said that two daddies cannot have children.”

“Uhm...” Jaebum bit his lips from the inside, trying hard not to laugh at that statement. He couldn't lie to his daughter now, could he? “Uh...” Yoonhee was looking at him expectantly, waiting for Jaebum to finally explain something. But he wasn't going to go there. It's still too early for the flowers and bees talk. That's for sure. “You know, princess... that's a little complicated but... uh...” he bit his lip again, thinking of the perfect wording to sound convincing without telling Yoonhee something that's not true. “I promise you that having two daddies is possible. Okay?”

“Okay...” Yoonhee mumbled, not actually satisfied with Jaebum's answer, he could sense that. One day, he thought, he will explain it to her. But definitely not now.

“Yoonhee?” he then whispered, still slightly swaying from side to side. “Remember when I said that you'll be forever my number one?”

Yoonhee nodded and Jaebum giggled softly and hugged her even tighter.

“Good. Because I want you to know that, even though there's now Jinyoung. I really really really like him, you know? That's why I hope that one day, you'll like him, too.”

“He never talks to me...”

“Hmm... he's just nervous.”

“Why?”

“Because he...” doesn't know how to deal with kids because he never wanted one? No, no that wasn't what he was supposed to tell Yoonhee. Jaebum felt his heart beating a bit quicker than usual. Was it right to tell Yoonhee all that? Would it really help to make her understand what's happening? “He... knows how important it is... that you like him as well. Because it's either the two of us or none, right?”

Again, Yoonhee nodded, smiling brightly now. “Right.”

 

 _*** flashback ends_  ***

 


	11. Chapter 11

Walking over the carpet of fallen leaves, Jaebum was still working up his conversation with BamBam in his head.

He hadn't heard of Jinyoung ever since the latter left on Saturday, saying the words Jaebum had thought about for the whole past day. Nothing sounded like Jinyoung was to give up on him. Nothing sounded like this was the end. But it also didn't sound like it was the start and that's what's bothering Jaebum. Jinyoung felt discouraged, Jaebum was at fault and he couldn't help but think that BamBam was right again this time and he was really stupid for letting it happen.

Maybe he should call Jinyoung later after all and apologize... or did this one call for drastic measures, meaning Yoonhee had to spend some time at BamBam's?

“Jaebum!”

Jaebum was ripped out of his thoughts at the sudden sound of Jinyoung's voice calling his name, only half a block away from the book shop.

He immediately stopped in his tracks as he spotted the younger boy walking towards him, hands buried into the pockets of his coat, like usual. “Aren't you supposed to be at the shop right now?”

“Nyeong... what are you... how come you're here?” Jaebum wondered instead of answering the other's question first. It was obvious the younger came here to see him, otherwise he wouldn't have been here. And because of that, Jaebum's heart was already beating out of his chest again.

Jinyoung has caught up with Jaebum by now, standing next to the other. “Hey um.... I just... wanted to see you... pick you up from work and... you know... uh... Yoonhee...” the younger stuttered awkwardly, fumbling with something inside of his pockets. “Gosh, I don't even know... but suddenly, I was here, on my way to the book shop. Sorry for not calling you yesterday... or text or... whatever....”

Jaebum couldn't help but smile at that, relieved that it seemed to be a good sign after all. He stepped closer towards Jinyoung. “Can I kiss you? I mean... here, in public...”

Now Jinyoung was also grinning. “Sure. I am not hiding anything.”

So that's what Jaebum did. Kissing Jinyoung. It was just a short, innocent kiss but it made Jaebum feel better immediately. Half of the worries from the weekend were like blown away by the taste of Jinyoung's lips against his.

“Good... I thought you're mad at me.” Jinyoung then mumbled when they broke the kiss. He was now looking at the ground. “You know... for saying the things I said.”

“You didn't say anything wrong.” Jaebum said, nudging his shoulder against Jinyoung's in an almost playful way as if to cheer him up. Then, he nodded his head to the side, signalizing Jinyoung that they should go ahead.

“Ugh... yes, I did.” Jinyoung groaned as he started walking side by side with the slightly elder. “I told you I wanted to meet Yoonhee and now that I did... I'm even more scared than before. Because I actually feel like she doesn't really like me and that's kinda... painful. I know that it's important for you... and for us... that we're getting along. But Jaebum, I-”

“I know. And that's what I'm sorry for. I shouldn't have expected you to get along with her like BamBam does... or even his boyfriend...”

“You did that?”

Jaebum chuckled softly. “I kinda did, yeah... But now I know that's... not as easy for you. I should've paid more attention to that.”

Jinyoung shook his head. “Sorry for making this so hard for you.”

“Can you please stop apologizing? Like... we're both doing that way too often.” Jaebum was laughing by now, which seemed to confuse Jinyoung. The elder had jumped ahead and turned around, facing Jinyoung while walking backwards.

“You're saying we shouldn't apologize anymore?”

“No... we should just stop doing things we're sorry for.” Jaebum said before turning around again. “This would be quite nice, actually...”

Now, Jinyoung was also giggling. “You think so?”

“Yeah...”

“But Jaebum I think... I mean... I meant what I said on Saturday. Getting close with Yoonhee... kinda scares me. Because I feel like anything I could say might be wrong.”

“She doesn't hold grudges. One day a kid from kindergarten is her worst enemy, the next day they're her best friend. And I also don't know how to say something that wrong to upset her.” Jaebum assured him “But I'll try being a better boyfriend from now on and help you more. Should've done that from the start, tho...”

“I think we've never addressed ourselves as boyfriends before, did we?”

“I don't know... but... uh... is it wrong I said that?”  
“No... no it's not.” Jinyoung said, smiling at Jaebum now. Jaebum copied that expression while holding his hand up in front of them, palm up. The younger looked at it for a second before pulling his right hand out of his pocket and interlacing his fingers with Jaebum's.

“Yet,... boyfriend or not... I think I shouldn't just topple into your live... with Yoonhee I mean.” Jinyoung then thought out loud.

“You already did that when surprising her in front of the bathroom that day.” Jaebum chuckled but when he noticed that Jinyoung was serious, he stopped walking again, pulling on Jinyoung's hand to make him stop as well.

“It's still because of what Yoonhee told me, right? That her friend said...”

“I really thought you were right from the start...” Jinyoung interrupted Jaebum before he could even voice out that kid's words.

“I wasn't. And they're just as wrong.”

“I know they are but...”

Jaebum started rubbing his thumb over the back of Jinyoung's hand. “After you left, Yoonhee got up again and we had a long talk about everything. I told her that it's perfectly fine like this and that she shouldn't worry about what others say.”

“And she just accepted it?”

“Of course.” Jaebum nodded with a soft laughter as he started walking again. “Daddy knows best. She learned that from Disney movies.”

“Doesn't it say Mother Knows Best?” Jinyoung chuckled.

“Yeah but who ca- wait!” Once more, his feet stopped moving. “How do you know?”

“What?”

Now, Jaebum was smirking at his lover. “You watched Tangled yesterday, did you?”

“Why would I do that?” Jinyoung laughed, suddenly too nervous to hide anything from Jaebum.

“I don't know... why did you?”

Scoffing, Jinyoung shook his head. “Mark and Jackson were watching it and I happened to be in the living room, okay?”

“You were watching it to impress Yoonhee with some knowledge, were you?”

Jinyoung bit his lip, trying to swallow the next nervous laughter creeping up inside of him while looking around the area with all the buildings, small shops and cafés surrounding them. His fingers were now slightly drumming against the back of Jaebum's hand. “...Maybe?”

Jaebum was laughing now, the back of his hand pressed against his mouth. “Oh my... that's pretty cute, Nyeongie.”

The younger blushed immediately. “Keep that in mind, it won't happen again anytime soon.”

“Sure?” Jaebum chuckled.

“Pretty sure.” Jinyoung confirmed. “And I also think that it's even more worrisome that you actually knew which movie I was talking about from just one line.”

Shrugging, Jaebum laughed again. “That's basic knowledge. And it's a song, meaning she's repeating it a few times.”

“If you say so...”

“Your hand is cold.”

“Hmm...”

 

And even though Jaebum's hand was so warm and firm against his own, Jinyoung's hand just got colder and clammier with every minute. With every step closer towards the kindergarten, Jinyoung felt more nervous as he didn't know what to expect. How was Yoonhee going to react, seeing him together with Jaebum to pick her up? How was he going to face Yoonhee and especially the other children there?

When they reached their destination, Jaebum gave his hand a comforting squeeze as he noticed Jinyoung's hesitation but the latter had already rammed his heels into the ground before he knew it himself.

“What's wrong?” Jaebum asked, looking at the entrance of the building in front of them and then back at Jinyoung.

“Don't you think it's better if I just waited outside?”

“Hmm...” Jaebum hummed before slowly sliding his hand away from Jinyoung's. “You might be right... I'll hurry getting her.”

Jinyoung only realized his mistake when Jaebum disappeared through he door with one last smile towards him.

Now he was standing alone in front of a kindergarten, hands even colder than before since Jaebum's warmth was gone.

A woman was guiding her son through the massive double door, carrying his bag while the boy was talking excitedly. Another mother-and-son-pair followed them but that boy seemed rather quiet. It must've been a usual time to pick up the children from the kindergarten as more and more parents came or left with their children while Jinyoung was just waiting there. He never went to kindergarten back then since their mother stayed at home until he went to school and his sisters were old enough to take care of him for a few hours when their parents were still at work.

A couple came to pick up their child and Jinyoung wondered if he'd ever enter this place together with Jaebum or if he'll stop himself from doing that forever because it was indeed scaring him. For everyone around, this scene seemed so normal. Only Jinyoung felt like he didn't fit in, being the only person standing a bit off, waiting.

Funny, how these minutes were like his whole situation in a nutshell, he thought, chuckling bitterly at that.

When Jaebum and Yoonhee came through the door, Yoonhee greeted him with a short wave and the usual “Hello.” and Jinyoung copied her.

Jaebum smiled at them while reaching down for Yoonhee's hand.

“Are you going to watch a movie with us again, Jinyoung-ssi?” Yoonhee then asked, looking up at Jinyoung with these big eyes of hers.

“Uh...” Jinyoung stuttered, feeling stared at.

“We'll eat first, okay princess? Then we'll see about the movie.” Jaebum answered his daughter's question. She turned away from Jinyoung and nodded. “Today we drew a lot of pictures.” Yoonhee then started to talk about her day like usual as they were walking down the street.

Jaebum was holding Yoonhee's hand while Jinyoung was walking a step behind, hands buried into his pockets again.

“Oh really?What did you draw?” Jaebum asked, facing the little girl. Only then, Jinyoung looked up, seeing that Jaebum had his hand stretched out behind his back, wiggling with his fingers to get the younger's attention.

Not able to fight the grin, Jinyoung leaped one step ahead, grabbing Jaebum's hand before giving it a thanking squeeze. His hand felt warmer immediately.

“I drew a cat.” Yoonhee said. “I'll show you when we're home.”

The sidewalk wasn't big enough to fit the three of them next to each other so Jinyoung was now walking as close to Jaebum as possible, their fingers intertwined behind their backs while Yoonhee was hopping up and down the stones separating the sidewalk from the patch of green on their right. All the way home, the girl kept chatting happily, answering Jaebum's questions which Jinyoung found more than amazing. He was just listening to their conversation and it impressed him how Jaebum could make up so many questions about topics like the singing circle and the pictures of unknown children.

“You coming?” Jaebum then asked Jinyoung once they were standing in front of Jaebum's apartment. Jinyoung didn't even notice they were already there as he was too involved in listening and thinking. “There's spaghetti for lunch today. Surprise.” Jaebum laughed.

“Daddy makes the best noodle sauce in the world.” Yoonhee cheered, clapping her small hands excitedly.

“Oh I know.” Jinyoung couldn't help but laugh now.

“Were you eating and playing with Daddy when I was playing with BamBam and Yugyeomie?” Yoonhee wondered.

Jinyoung's eyes widened while Jaebum was ruffling the little girl's hair. He unlocked the door without saying another word and neither did Jinyoung. They would've laughed if they did.

“I hope I still have enough food for the three of us.” Jaebum then mumbled rather to himself after taking off his shoes and putting Yoonhee's small bag next to the sofa in the living room.

“Did I come that unexpected?” Jinyoung chuckled, joining him in the kitchen.

“Yes.” Jaebum laughed. “You were the one saying he needs time. So I was willing to give you time... And I wasn't going to store food for who knows how many months.”

“Therefore I'm terribly sorry. Shall I leave again?” Jinyoung joked and was about to turn around but Jaebum was quick to catch the side of his shirt and clutch it tightly. He only let go when Yoonhee hopped into the kitchen, holding up a sheet of paper with something drawn on it and handing it to Jaebum.

“Look, this is my cat.” Yoonhee smiled excitedly.

“Aww~ it's cute.” Jaebum grinned, petting her head.

“Can I see?” Jinyoung asked, leaning closer towards the elder who was showing him the artwork. But Jinyoung saw everything but a cat. “Really cute.” he nodded. At that, Jaebum coughed to cover a laughter before pushing his hip against Jinyoung's, making the younger sway to the side, barely able to grab the counter to prevent himself from falling.

Yoonhee took the couple's chuckling as a sign of happiness about her picture and grinned proudly as Jaebum handed it back to her.

Then, she put it onto the coffee table in the living room before sitting down next to her Lego box, loudly rummaging around in it.

“You're making the same spaghetti sauce again?” Jinyoung asked Jaebum who was just putting two pots onto the stove.

“I'm being honest here... I can't make a lot of different things.” Jaebum laughed. “But Yoonhee loves this one so yeah... I'm making it at least once a week.”

Now it was Jinyoung's time to laugh. “Well I'm eating ramen at least thrice a week so...” he said while watching Yoonhee putting some Legos together.

“Wanna play with her?” Jaebum asked suddenly while pouring some salt into the boiling water.

“Now?” Jinyoung gasped, quickly turning to the side.

“Sure. Lunch's ready in fifteen... and I'm here if you need me... so you could give it a try.”

Jinyoung gulped loudly. “Do you think so?”

“Uh-huh...” The elder hummed. “Trust me, she'll be happy if you show her some interest. You saw her grinning right now when you were looking at her drawing?”

“You sure?”

“I'm her father. And as you know now, daddy knows best.” Jaebum laughed and stuck his tongue out at the younger. “If you say so...” Jinyoung gave him a weak smile while pushing himself away from the counter.

“Fighting.” Jaebum grinned, holding up a fist up.

Jinyoung took one more deep breath before slowly strolling into the living room, sitting down onto the floor next to Yoonhee.

The girl had already put quite a lot of Lego bricks together, all the while talking to her Elsa doll which was lying next to her as always.

“What are you doing there, Yoonhee?” he asked, trying to put the same amount of sincere interest into his voice like Jaebum always did when talking to Yoonhee, when asking about the games she played, when complimenting the so called cat...

“I'm building a bed for Elsa.” Yoonhee answered without looking up from her structure. Jinyoung tried finding any hint of a bed in whatever the girl was creating.

“With Lego?” Jinyoung then wondered after a moment of silence. “Isn't that... uncomfortable?”

Now, Yoonhee stopped building and looked up at Jinyoung with a confused expression. “Of course I will put pillows onto it.”

“Of course....” Jinyoung nodded, smiling sheepishly, letting out a sharp breath that moved some dust bunnies underneath the TV stand. It's not like Jaebum didn't clean the apartment but he surely didn't mop the living room once a day. Or once a week. Maybe once a moth. “And uh... do you have enough bricks to build it?”

“Yes.”

Jinyoung nodded again, mustering the large box in front of them. “Okay...”

Yoonhee put some more bricks together in silence, shifting a bit in her sitting position. The dust bunnies were moving again, hiding behind the TV cables. Jinyoung heard Jaebum cutting something in the kitchen.

“Can I... help you?”Jinyoung tried it once more, not yet willing to give up.

She shook her head.

“Okay.” he said again, fumbling with his fingers resting on his lap. “Tell me if you... change your mind...”

Yoonhee looked at him again, showing him a toothy smile. “Okay.” But then she turned back, focused on her work, completely ignoring Jinyoung.

“Jinyoung? Can you help me here for a second?” Jaebum suddenly called from the kitchen. Jinyoung had never hopped onto his feet that fast. Quickly, he rushed to the elder. “Yeah?” he said, expecting to be given a knife to cut some vegetables or something but instead, Jaebum just turned towards the younger.

“Help me help you, Nyeong.” he said in a low voice so that Yoonhee couldn't hear him while turning off the stove and putting the spoon aside. He then reached out to grab Jinyoung's t-shirt once again, pulling the younger a step closer. “What can I do to make things easier? I mean... that one right now obviously didn't work.”

“I don't know... she's blocking...”

Jaebum shook his head and chuckled. “You're both blocking!”

“I'm not.”

“You are! Willfully obstructive.” Jaebum laughed before turning around. “Yoonhee, lunch's ready.”

The little girl hopped up onto her feet and shuffled over to her seat on the front side of the table while Jaebum put the last plate onto it. He then took place on Yoonhee's left side while Jinyoung sat on the opposite side.

“Bon appétit.” Jaebum smiled before silence fell over them again. Yoonhee was stirring her food, lifting her spoon once in a while to lick some sauce off of it before stirring again. Jaebum watched her from the corner of his eye, immediately noticing that something was off. Jinyoung felt just as uneasy, constantly switching between glancing at Jaebum and glancing at Yoonhee while eating slowly to avoid being the first one to finish his meal. Except for the spoons clanging against the plates, nothing could be heard. The awkward silence was so thick, it could've been cut with a knife. Once that thought crossed Jaebum's mind, he couldn't take it anymore.

“Yoonhee princess, is something wrong?” he dared asking.

Yoonhee shook her head before licking her spoon again but Jaebum didn't take it.

“Are you sure? Did something happen in kindergarten? Did your teacher yell again?”

But Yoonhee just shook her head once more.

Jaebum hummed quietly while Jinyoung took another spoon full of sauce, feeling Yoonhee's glance on him. He shifted a bit in his seat, making Jaebum aware of his uneasiness, throwing him a glance as well.

“Daddy?” Yoonhee then mumbled. Jaebum quickly tore his gaze away from Jinyoung, now looking at his daughter, waiting for her to say something. She hesitated before finally saying what's on her mind. “Can I get a bed for Elsa for my birthday?”

Jaebum's eyes widened as he put his spoon down, staring at Yoonhee with his mouth slightly agape. He felt relieved, hearing that it wasn't something bad on her mind but at the same time, he started worrying again. “Weren't you building one over there?” he asked, already picturing the price tag of a wooden canopy doll bed with pillows and two sets of pink and baby blue bed sheets. He wouldn't get out of it without spending at least 80 dollar.

For the nth time today, Yoonhee shook her head. “But Lego is uncomfortable.” she said, stirring her food again.

Jinyoung had stopped eating by now and started looking back and forth between his lover and the latter's daughter. Jaebum's expression was sincere as always but there was something else that he couldn't quite read at the moment. Yoonhee on the other hand looked hopeful, waiting for Jaebum to agree on buying her the new toy. And to say that Jinyoung didn't feel a bit proud of the fact that Yoonhee thought about his words from earlier would be a white lie. But he also started feeling sorry for Jaebum who still didn't respond to Yoonhee's request.

“Can't Elsa sleep in your bed as well? Because that's pretty comfortable for sure...” Jinyoung suggested to at least say something helpful. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jaebum smiling at him.

“But you have your own bed, too, right?” Yoonhee then said, making Jinyoung bite his tongue. Because yes, he did have an own bed but he preferred sharing with Jaebum. He couldn't tell her that, though. Jaebum sniffed loudly while pressing his lips together in order not to laugh, bringing Yoonhee's attention back to him.

“Pretty please, Daddy~” she then pouted cutely while bouncing up and down on her chair. Jinyoung noticed that as soon as Yoonhee's lips formed into that cute pout, Jaebum avoided looking at her, fumbling with this spoon instead.

“I'll see what I can do, okay princess?” he then mumbled. “But I can't promise you anything.”

Those words were enough to make Yoonhee smile brightly, making everyone forget that she has been pouting for the past few minutes and Jinyoung remembered having always found it amazing how strong children's mood swings were. He often watched scenes like that in supermarkets or on the streets. Kids would cry or scream, insisting on having their way and as soon as the parents gave in, they would smile and laugh happily as if nothing happened. Jinyoung sometimes wondered if he's been like that as well back then.

Right now, it felt like Jaebum saved the day as Yoonhee was now eating while still grinning and happily humming a random melody. Jaebum was staring at his girl with a soft smile, rolling his eyes when she wasn't looking. Only when Jinyoung faked a cough, Jaebum tore his gaze away from Yoonhee to flash a smile at Jinyoung that was reaching his eyes, making them almost disappear and Jinyoung thought that Jaebum has never looked so soft like he did right now.

They finished their meal in silence after all, even though, it was a bit less awkward which Jinyoung was more than thankful for.

 

***

 

It was around three hours later and Yoonhee was in her room, playing with her dolls while Jaebum and Jinyoung deemed it safe to cuddle a bit in front of the TV.

Jinyoung was lying with his head in Jaebum's lap, eyes half closed while the Jaebum was playing with his hair.

“I'm still amazed she listened to me about the Lego bed... but I'm kinda sorry she wants you to buy her one now.” Jinyoung then said.

Jaebum shook his head, chuckling a bit before pressing a kiss onto Jinyoung's forehead. “She just needed the right excuse to ask me about it. It was the perfect opportunity.”

“But still...”

“I told you it's a good idea for you to talk to her.”

“Even if it means you gotta buy a doll bed?”

“Well I fear we gotta share the costs now since it's kinda your fault.” Jaebum laughed and Jinyoung stuck his tongue out at him before sitting up to press his lips onto the elder's lips. Jaebum wrapped his arms around the younger, pulling him a bit closer to deepen the kiss.

Yet, their moment was interrupted by Jaebum's phone ringing. He groaned softly before unwrapping his arm from around Jinyoung's waist to get up and snatch the phone away from the coffee table, looking at the caller ID first before lifting it up to his ear. “BamBam?”

Jinyoung sighed at the sudden loss of warmth and pulled his legs closer to his body. He was just about to pull Jaebum back when the elder sucked in a sharp breath and stood up from the couch, turning towards Jinyoung to throw him an apologetic glance and mouth “Sorry” before heading towards the kitchen. Jinyoung followed him with his eyes, staring at him for a few seconds. Jaebum looked serious now while talking in a low voice.

“Look Bam... I know it's hard but... I think you gotta forget real quick...” Jinyoung heard him saying before he reached for the TV remote to lower the volume. It's not like he wanted to eavesdrop, he just didn't want Jaebum to eventually leave the room because the TV was distracting. Giving him a thankful nod and a soft smile, Jaebum signalized him that he understood the gesture.

Jinyoung copied the smile before giving half of his attention back to the movie playing on TV. It wasn't anything special but they spent the past hour watching it so he might as well know how it ends. But of course, the man eventually got the woman after almost losing her. Jinyoung lowered the volume even more for the advertising break, looking back at Jaebum so see whether the elder was coming back soon because yes, Jinyoung felt lonely sitting alone on the sofa. But Jaebum was listening to whatever BamBam was telling him, looking slightly worried which made Jinyoung wonder what this call was about. He was just about to get up and get himself something to drink when Yoonhee suddenly hasted into the room. Her hair was a complete mess with scrunchies and hair clasps randomly tied into it while she was also holding a few in her hands as well as a hair brush. “Daddy can you braid my hair?” she called but immediately fell silent as she didn't find Jaebum where she expected him to be. Instead, she was looking at Jinyoung who had his finger pressed against his lips before gesturing towards Jaebum talking on the phone in the kitchen.

Yet, Yoonhee didn't go back to her room but shuffled over to the couch. Jinyoung felt a nervous flip in his stomach, seeing the little girl coming towards him. He expected her to wait until Jaebum was done talking but he didn't expect her to wait right next to him.

“Who is daddy talking to?” she asked while climbing onto the the couch right next to Jinyoung whose body had stiffened by now. Jaebum was on the phone. He couldn't help him now.

“BamBam.” he answered her shortly.

“Oh...” Yoonhee nodded, wiggling in her seat to get more comfortable. “Can you braid my hair then?” she held the hair ties towards him.

Jinyoung's eyes widened as he turned to look at Jaebum once more. The latter was still talking, one arm slung around his chest while the other hand was still holding the phone. When their eyes met, Jaebum smiled shortly at him before saying something to BamBam Jinyoung couldn't hear. He wanted to send him an SOS but he didn't know how, having Yoonhee almost climbing onto his lap already.

At least she had put one hand onto Jinyoung's thigh, supporting herself on it while leaning over to hold the hair accessories and the brush even closer towards him while grinning brightly. “Can you?”

“...S-sure...” Jinyoung said after one last glance towards Jaebum who was now looking at the ground. Hesitantly, he then took the scrunchies and clasps, putting it onto his lap while clutching the brush tightly with his right hand. Yoonhee smiled contently, leaning back again.

Jinyoung really wondered how she couldn't notice how uncomfortable and nervous he was.

“I wanna look like Anna.” she then sang, bouncing up and down on the couch again.

Jinyoung felt a bit numb as he nodded. How was he supposed to braid her hair when she was bouncing like that? How was he supposed to do that without disappointing her because her hair was way too short to look like what she wanted it to? “Okay uhm... can you hold still then?” And Yoonhee stopped moving immediately, sitting there like frozen. Jinyoung just had to grin a bit at the pun his mind just made up. He then shifted a bit closer towards Yoonhee, but not too close. Just enough that he didn't have to stretch his arms until they start hurting.

When his fingertips touched her hair, he hesitated a bit before he started taking the clasps out that Yoonhee had put in already. He put them to the others lying in his lap and grabbed a strand of her hair, carefully brushing it.

“Tell me... if it twinges...” Jinyoung mumbled, not so confidently brushing small strands only.

“Okay.” Yoonhee said, nodding her head which made Jinyoung let go of her hair quickly and lift his hands up into the air until she's still again. Then he took the next strand and brushed it.

“Does... Jaeb- your daddy braid your hair a lot?” he asked, having Jaebum's voice in the back of his mind, telling him to start a conversation and stop blocking. But he regretted his question once Yoonhee nodded. “Don't move, okay?” he breathed quietly. Yoonhee listened and stopped nodding.

“Yes. It always looks funny when daddy braids my hair.”

Jinyoung chuckled, suddenly picturing Jaebum trying to braid a bouncing Yoonhee's hair like a Disney princess' hair. “So he's not good at that?”

He felt that Yoonhee was about to move her head again but she stopped herself in the last second. “No. But I like it. It looks funny.”

“I can't believe there's something Im Jaebum can't do...” Jinyoung whispered, more to himself while letting Yoonhee's hair run through his fingers, separating it in the middle before dividing each part of the two into three. He cursed his fingers in his mind as they wouldn't stop shaking, letting the strands slip out of it again and again.

“Sh-- Oh no.” Jaebum slightly gasped in the kitchen. “And what are you planning to do now?” The almost slipped swear word had Jinyoung and Yoonhee stop and turn their heads. Jaebum looked at them with widened eyes as if he just surprised himself with it. Only then, he seemed to realize what kind of scene was taking place in his living room and even though BamBam seemed to be talking about a serious topic, Jaebum couldn't help but chuckle softly.

Jinyoung felt his face turning red before he turned back towards Yoonhee, continuing his task with even shakier hands than before, knowing Jaebum was watching them now.

But eventually, he managed to finish the short plait on her right side, sealing it with a scrunchy.

“Okay... can you turn around so that I can reach the other side better?” Jinyoung asked and Yoonhee complied with a smile while fumbling with the finished braid. “By the way... I thought putting pillows onto the Lego bed will do it... how come you changed your mind?”

“But you said it's too hard to sleep on.”

“Yes but...” Jinyoung started but stopped himself mid-sentence. He didn't need to confuse Yoonhee further by contradicting himself. “Yes it is. You're right.”

It took Jinyoung less time to braid the second plait. This one also looked better than the first.

“Done.” Jinyoung then said, letting go of the hair. Because Yoonhee's hair wasn't that long, the two plaits were barely touching her shoulders but the little girl kept touching it, grinning happily.

“Come, I wanna see it.” she then exclaimed, jumping off of the couch before pulling on Jinyoung's arm to get him onto his feet as well. The latter put the leftover scrunchies and clasps onto the coffee table and complied to Yoonhee's request of getting up.

From the corner of his eye, Jinyoung saw Jaebum leaning against the counter, still talking on the phone but smiling brightly at him as soon as their gazes locked.

Yoonhee was holding onto Jinyoung's wrist, pulling him towards her room. Once they stepped in, Jinyoung noticed that he's never really been there before. That one time he looked into that room was last week-end when he watched Jaebum bringing Yoonhee to bed but that's it. Now, having the room completely illuminated it looked like a totally different place. There were toys all over the floor, plushies all over the bed and unicorns all over the wall. Everything looked so pink, Jinyoung felt himself brought back to the time when his sisters' rooms looked like this.

Jinyoung didn't go further into the room but stood in the door frame again.

Yoonhee jumped over to her wardrobe where a small mirror was attached onto the door. She grabbed her new plaits, looking at them closely while Jinyoung was watching her, not even trying to fight the proud grin, seeing Yoonhee happy like that.

“It's so pretty. Just like Anna's~” she sang, hopping up and down before she stopped and turned towards Jinyoung again. “Jinyoung-ssi? Which ice cream do you like the most?”

Jinyoung was a bit caught off guard by the random question, thinking about it for a moment. “Hm... I like chocolate, vanilla and... strawberry. Why?”

Yoonhee showed him the brightest grin he's ever seen before shuffling towards him again, wrapping her short arms around his thighs because she couldn't reach further up. “Then you're allowed to be my second daddy.”

Jinyoung could swear his heart stopped beating and his lungs stopped working for a second before he felt a strange lump in his throat. His body froze completely, he didn't know what to do. He had his hands weirdly stretched away from his body, not knowing how to react to the small girl hugging him like that. It wasn't even a long hug but for Jinyoung it felt like ages of debating with himself before he took all of his courage and brought his right hand to Yoonhee's shoulder, patting it softly. “Thanks.” he whispered shakily, his complete system still a bit out of order, his heart still racing too fast.

When Yoonhee let go of him and rushed past him, back to the living room, Jinyoung took a deep breath to calm down before turning around and following the little girl again.

“Daddy, look, Jinyoung braided my hair and now I look like Anna!” Yoonhee called, tugging on Jaebum's pants. The latter had put the phone aside and when Jinyoung came into the kitchen, he found Yoonhee in her father's arms.

“Park Jinyoung, why do you know how to braid hair?” Jaebum laughed, adjusting his hold around Yoonhee before leaning against the counter for support, bringing one hand up to touch her hair.

“I've spent some years as the slave of two older sisters...” Jinyoung shrugged. “Braiding hair was my job if I wanted to get some ice cream bought with their pocket money.”

Jaebum was laughing at that, about to put Yoonhee down again but she braced herself onto him. “Daddy? Jinyoung likes chocolate and strawberry ice cream!”

“I told you it's suitable.” Jaebum smiled before giving his daughter a kiss on the cheek and winking at Jinyoung, who was looking so shocked by everything that just happened that it made Jaebum laugh again. Eventually, he put Yoonhee down and leaned over to press a kiss onto Jinyoung's cheek as well to which Yoonhee covered her eyes, giggling.

 


	12. Chapter 12

“Has your mom calmed down already?” Jaebum asked BamBam, who was currently fumbling for the orange jelly beans in the bowl between them on the couch in the younger boy's living room.

“Kind of... She apologized for the insults she threw at us, saying it was just out of shock. I talked to her today and she told me she wants to meet Gyeomie... properly again.”

“Properly as in dressed and not fucking you on the kitchen table?” Jaebum laughed, pointing at the said piece of furniture before popping a blue jelly bean into his mouth.

Now, BamBam was also laughing. “She really had a bad sense of timing there... Shouldn't have given her a key to my apartment though...”

“Hey, at least you're laughing at it now. Last week you sounded like you're crying. It actually scared me...”

“I never cried!” BamBam gasped. “I'm not a crybaby... I was just annoyed that she interrupted us so close to the end...”

“Oh my goodness, no more details please!” Jaebum groaned, covering his ears with his hands. “The kitchen table was already too much information to be honest...”

BamBam was about to throw a comment about what Jaebum had told him about Jinyoung but hat's when they heard a door opening behind them. Both of them turned around immediately to see YuGyeom peeking out of the bedroom. “You're still talking about the kitchen table or...”

“No, we're not!” Jaebum decided, taking his hands away from his ears again.

“Great.” the tall boy beamed before turning back into the room again. “Yoonhee, go and show your daddy and Bam what you did just now.”

“W-what did she do?” Jaebum's eyes widened immediately, already picturing his girl having turned his friend's bedroom upside down with every pillow and blanket creating one of Yoonhee's beloved 'castles'. He also pictured BamBam freaking out about it. The younger loved playing around like a kid with and even without Yoonhee around but he always got a bit fussy when it came to his bedroom. The room that held the closet with all of his pricey treasures.

Turned out, Yoonhee let the bed in peace. Instead, she came dancing into the living room, waving her arms around like crazy. A couple dozen of golden bracelets in different shades and shapes were jingling from her elbows as they were too big to fit her wrists properly. Three golden necklaces were dangling from her neck while one had already slipped underneath her jeans dress. The most prominent feature for Jaebum were the huge, golden ear clips shining on both sides of Yoonhee's face, making her look older, yet smaller than she actually was.

YuGyeom stood in the door frame now, one hand in front of his mouth while chuckling, looking at his boyfriend. The latter gaped at the little girl covered in his jewelry while happily spinning around.

“Look, I'm as pretty as BamBam oppa now~” she grinned proudly. “Like a real princess.”

YuGyeom's giggles became louder and BamBam gasped once again.

“Oh my...” Jaebum coughed out a laughter, jumping up from the sofa while BamBam reached for the jelly beans, throwing a few at his chuckling boyfriend.

“OUCH!” YuGyeom hissed, rubbing his fired at forehead.

“How dare you letting her play with my stuff?” BamBam whined, almost toppling over the backrest of the sofa while still throwing single jelly beans at YuGyeom, which missed him because the tall boy was good at avoiding it.

“Stop it Bam~” he cried.

“Gyeomie oppa is right. You're not supposed to play with food.” Yoonhee nodded firmly before taking a bean from the ground and shoving it into her mouth.

Another handful of jelly beans followed in a low level flight towards YuGyeom and Jaebum was quick to pull his daughter out of the line of fire with a selfless jump.

“It's your fault for not putting it back into the closet after trying everything on this morning. It was still spread all over your bed!” YuGyeom defeated himself with both hands lifted up in front of him.

“You should've told her off...” BamBam huffed.

“But it was fun watching.” his boyfriend laughed with a cheeky grin. The Thai boy now facepalmed while Jaebum was still laughing so hard he had to clutch his stomach after he dropped down onto the floor. It took him a few more deep breaths before he calmed down and got up into a crouching position. Yoonhee was crouching right beside him, munching another jelly bean that rolled towards her. While getting back onto his feet, Jaebum the lifted her up with a slight groan.

“Gosh all that gold makes you like... twice as heavy.” he chuckled, triggering YuGyeom into another fit of laughter. “But princess, I fear you have to give BamBam his jewelry back.”

Yoonhee pouted a bit but went back to smiling immediately. “But then I want a picture.”

“Okay, I'll take it and then you'll give everything back to me.” BamBam sighed with another glare towards YuGyeom and hopped off the couch as well, snatching his phone off the coffee table in the same movement. He then walked around the couch, unlocked his phone and stood right in front of Yoonhee and Jaebum who was about to put her down onto the ground. But she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Daddy has to be in the picture as well.”

Nodding, Jaebum adjusted his hold around Yoonhee before both of them smiled into BamBam's direction, showing their teeth while their eyes were almost disappearing.

“Say kimchi~” YuGyeom laughed from the side and that's what Yoonhee did while Jaebum brought one hand up, showing the peace sign and as soon as Yoonhee saw, she copied his action just before BamBam pressed the button on his phone's screen.

Jaebum chuckled at that and pressed one short peck onto Yoonhee's cheek before he put her down again. “Now let's get you out of all the jewelry. BamBam spend all of his mother's money on it.”

Yoonhee's eyes widened and if it wasn't for her sitting right in front of him now, BamBam would've attacked Jaebum with the last few jelly beans left in the bowl.

 

***

 

Jinyoung knew what was going to come the moment he looked at Jackson's eyes getting bigger and his lips forming into a pout while he was making his way towards him.

“Jinyoungie~” the elder cooed, wiggling his butt from left to right while holding his hands up beside his face like kitty paws. “Can you braid my hair~~?”

Jinyoung rolled his eyes and sat down the cup of ramen he was having for lunch. “I shouldn't have told you...” he sighed.

“Yep... he won't let it die. Ever again. Never ever.” Mark commented, sitting on one of the kitchen chairs while typing on his phone, not even looking up while talking.

“He better does or some _one_ is going to die. Soon.” Jinyoung growled, glaring at Jackson who just grinned at him with faked innocence.

“Please let him live.” Mark said with barely more feelings to his words than before, still not looking up from his phone.

“Aww~” Jackson squealed, jumping right behind his boyfriend to wrap his arms around his shoulders and hug him, startling the latter into dropping his phone. A faint curse left his lips but he didn't make a move to pick it up until Jackson let go of him.

Once again, Jinyoung rolled his eyes before grabbing his ramen bowl and continued slurping his noodles.

“I think it's cute. You know... you trying to get along with Yoonhee by braiding her hair...” Mark then said, clearly relieved to see that his phone didn't break when falling down.

“So cute that I doubt you're being yourself.” Jackson chuckled.

“Believe me, so do I.” Jinyoung sighed, sucking in the last few noodles with a loud noise.

Mark only shrugged. “Doesn't everyone get a bit soft if a kid is asking for something?”

Jinyoung agreed with a nod towards the elder. “That and as I said: I'm no stranger when it comes to braiding hair...”

“It's still so weird. Please let Jaebum film you next time. I need to see this.”

“Over my dead body!” Jinyoung laughed.

“Who is dying?” YoungJae asked, shuffling into the kitchen, heading for the fridge.

“Either Jackson or Jinyoung. The discussion is still ongoing.” Mark commented. “Have you heard already? The little one accepted Jinyoung as her second daddy.”

YoungJae closed the fridge again and turned around to face his best friend. “Really? What on earth did you do to bribe her?”

“He braided her hair!” Jackson blurted out, laughing again.

“I told you back then - you'll never know what this skill is good for. Remember?” YoungJae chuckled with a wink towards Jinyoung who stuck his tongue in a playful way.

“Yes, YoungJae. You were right.” he admitted, rolling his eyes once more. “Now can we drop that topic? The hair topic I mean...”

“Aww~ come on. You don't have to be embarrassed about it.” Jackson grinned, twirling a strand of his short hair around his finger in an exaggerated manner.

Groaning, Jinyoung put the empty bowl into the sink and reached for his phone before making his way out of the kitchen. Maybe, he thought, they'd stop if he ignored them for a while.

The moment he unlocked his phone, it showed him that there was a new message from Jaebum. Jinyoung opened it while dropping down onto the sofa.

Jaebum had sent a picture of himself, holding Yoonhee in his arms while both were smiling brightly, showing the peace sign. Jinyoung instantly felt reminded of the moment he saw Jaebum's Kakao profile picture for the first time. Again, he was mesmerized by the carefree feeling the picture elicited. Jinyoung couldn't help but smile as well, looking at the cute pair with a strikingly similar eye smile. He chuckled slightly, thinking that even if Jaebum had wanted to deny being the father of the little girl back then, he wouldn't have had a chance to do so. Even the toothy grin was somewhat equal, making Jinyoung wonder if there was a feature in Yoonhee's face that was reflecting her mother's looks as much as her eyes and her smile were reflecting Jaebum's. Yet, Jinyoung came to the conclusion that no matter if it was her nose, her cheek bones or her lips, he wouldn't actually want to know.

 

_ To: Jaebum _

Cute ♥

 

_ From: Jaebum _

Bam wasn't amused at all ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

_ To: Jaebum _

Why so? o.O

 

_ From: Jaebum _

Cause she's been wearing his babies ㅋㅋㅋ

 

Only then, Jinyoung noticed that the little girl was literally covered in gold. How could he even miss that when looking at the picture? She was sparkling like a disco ball in all these chains and rings, somehow looking like she robbed a really pricey gumball machine.

“What are you smiling at? Did your prince charming ask you to get married?” Jackson's voice suddenly hollered from the kitchen.

“He'd never do that via Kakao!” Jinyoung exclaimed, only to realize his wrong choice of reasoning when his three friends stared at him with widened eyes, not even able to joke about it. “I mean... not that we could get married anyways... or even want to... What are you even talking about? We're two men. We only met like two months ago... That's so out of question...” he stopped talking, seeing that whatever he was going to say from now on couldn't save his ass anymore.

A loud squeal was already erupting from Jackson's throat as he was hugging a still gaping Mark as close as possible. YoungJae was only shaking his head at the excited couple next to him.

“Guys... can you please stop it now?”

“Aww come on, Jinyoungie~ You'd look nice in a beautiful white wedding dress. And I'm sure Jaebum's gonna look fine as hell in a suit.” Jackson sang, swaying Mark from side to side while reveling in his thoughts.

“You're hopeless, Jackson.” Jinyoung couldn't help but laugh. “We're not in some weird parallel universe gay romance novel written by kids on the internet. This is real life and in real life, I don't have the chance of getting married anytime soon. It's ILLEGAL here in Korea.”

“Yeah whatever...” Jackson sighed before giving Mark a loud, wet kiss onto the cheek. The latter made a grossed out noise before wiggling out of his boyfriend's hold.

YoungJae chuckled, watching the couple standing next to him before turning back towards Jinyoung. “So what were you smiling at earlier?”

“Jaebum just sent me a photo of him and Yoonhee.”

He barely uttered these words when the other three boys jolted towards him, nearly knocking down a chair and a framed picture of the four of them at Mark's birthday party two years ago, jumped onto the sofa from all sides and crowded all around Jinyoung in the most unnatural positions while trying to snatch the phone out of their friend's hand.

“I'll be the first. I'm his best friend!” YoungJae exclaimed, pushing Jackson's hand aside.

“So what? I'm the eldest!” Mark called, laughing his typical high pitched laugh like he always did when things got crazy.

“Is that your only card? Because of me, we're living here together.” Jackson called, trying to shove Mark's foot out of his face to reach for the phone.

“But you've already met him! That's unfair!” YoungJae countered.

Jackson gasped loudly. “Yes but we haven't seen Yoonhee yet!”

Jinyoung sat in between his friends, completely unfazed while holding the phone up so that nobody could snatch it all too soon. “Guys...”

“Get your hand away from my butt, Jackson!” YoungJae screeched before kicking against the backrest of the sofa, shifting a bit forwards and grabbing an unprepared Jinyoung's phone. “Ha!”

Jinyoung rolled his eyes but let YoungJae unlock it and scroll up to the picture, much to Jackson's and Mark's dismay. Yet, they shifted over, not caring about Jinyoung sitting in between them, peeking over YoungJae's shoulder to take a look as well.

“So that's him...” YoungJae mumbled. “He really does look... quite nice... as far as I can tell...”

“You never mentioned how cute the little one is!” Jackson squealed. “Gosh that's so adorable! They look alike!”

“Okay Jackson, now I want kids as well. This one's like... so cute.” Mark grinned, wrapping an arm around Jackson's shoulders to pull the younger closer. “I don't care how you're planning to do that. Just try.”

“You should start by discontinuing the pill, we'll stop using condoms and you should keep an eye on your menstrual cycle.” Jackson said with a wink at Mark who just nodded in agreement, smiling brightly. Jinyoung literally facepalmed.

“No seriously. How can you not get along with this cute little being? She doesn't look like a difficult child at all.” Mark wondered, now allowed to take the phone out of YoungJae's hand to have a closer look at the little girl.

“I don't know when you consider a child as difficult or easy but... just her being a child makes it difficult for me.” Jinyoung sighed while YoungJae took the phone back into his hand. “They're so... unpredictable.”

“You wanted it that way.” YoungJae said with a shrug, zooming into the picture to look at Jaebum and Yoonhee again. “Wow they really look alike. You never mentioned that.”  
“Because I... never really noticed before...” Jinyoung smiled sheepishly. “And I repeat: I don't want the child. I want Jaebum.”

“Same difference, I guess.” YoungJae mumbled, zooming out of the picture again before handing the phone back to it's owner. “And she accepted you now?”

“At least she said so, yeah.” Jinyoung nodded. “She asked me about my favorite ice cream and I must've given the correct answer.”

“How is there a correct answer?” Jackson asked and Jinyoung shrugged.

“How should I know? But I seriously hope she's not giving me the cold shoulder from now on... I mean... I'm her second daddy now... she said that... And Jaebum would be glad to see us... getting along, I guess...”

“So how does it feel then? Being a dad?” Mark chuckled and Jinyoung shot him a glare.

“I'm not a dad, Mark.” he sighed. “Not really.”

“Let's have that conversation again in a few months...” Jackson grinned, patting Jinyoung's shoulder to which YoungJae just scoffed, grabbing the TV remote.

“Yeah, we'll see...” he mumbled before tuning into a random channel.

 

***

 

“What? No! Why?” Yoonhee pouted, her big eyes starting to glisten while she was looking up at her father. It was Sunday morning, around ten, and Jaebum just got a text from BamBam, canceling their plans for today because his mother invited herself over, announcing herself this time.

“I'm sorry, princess.” Jaebum sighed, stroking her hair while crouching down beside her. “Maybe we can go next time.”

“But you promised we're going to the zoo with BamBam and Gyeomie oppa.” Yoonhee sobbed, tightening her left arm around Mr. Rabbit. “You can't break a promise.”

“I'm not breaking the promise.” Jaebum put his hand onto the little girl's shoulder, pulling her a bit closer. “See... they have something important to do and didn't know about it earlier. But of course, we'll go together one day.”

“But going to the zoo is important as well! What are they doing today?” Yoonhee was still pouting as she tore her gaze to the ground, playing with the fabric of the jeans Jaebum was wearing. It had a small, frayed fashion hole right above his left knee which tempted the little girl to fumble around with it.

“Um... so... BamBam's mother came all the way from Thailand to see... them. It was a surprise and... that's why they didn't know earlier.” Jaebum cringed inwardly at the sentence he just uttered but Yoonhee nodded, seeming to have understood what he was trying to say.

“Okay...” she sighed, still playing with Jaebum's jeans. “But... can we go to the zoo after all? I really wanna go to the zoo today.”

“Just the two of us?” Jaebum asked, glancing over at the coupon Jeongmin gave to him last week. It promised an entrance fee discount for two adults at the zoo. Two for the price of one. “Princess... that's quite expensive, you know? We can save money if we go with someone else... so why don't we go next week with BamBam and YuGyeom?” Jaebum hated moments like that but it was already the end of the month and he was too short on money to spend it at the zoo. Especially since October was coming and that meant Yoonhee's birthday was just around the corner.

“Why don't we ask Jinyoung-ssi then?” Yoonhee suddenly asked, ripping Jaebum out of his thoughts.

“What?”

“Jinyoung-ssi can go with us today, right? Can you ask him?”

Jaebum felt his stomach performing some weird flips of happiness, hearing Yoonhee's suggestion. He quickly ruffled her hair once again and dropped down onto his knees, shuffling over to the coffee table to reach for his phone. After unlocking it, he looked up at his daughter again, hesitating a bit. “You really want Jinyoung to come with us?”

Yoonhee smiled and nodded. “You said he's my second daddy now. I wanna go to the zoo with my daddies then.”

“Have I ever told you that you're the best daughter in the whole wide world?” Jaebum grinned at her, too happy to contain his feelings.

Yoonhee giggled and hopped towards Jaebum again, settling herself in his lap. “And you're the best daddy in the whole wide world.”

Jaebum wrapped one arm around her like she did to Mr. Rabbit, hugging her tightly and giving her a kiss on top of her head while scrolling down his contact list to search for Jinyoung. He then pressed the green call-button and waited for the younger to pick up. It didn't even take more than ten seconds for Jinyoung to answer the phone.

“ _Jaebum?”_

“Hey um... are you free today?” Jaebum asked, trying to stop Yoonhee from wiggling around so much but the little girl tried hard to get closer to the phone.

“Hello, Jiyoung-ssi!” she called eventually.

“ _Oh... hello Yoonhee.”_ Jinyoung mumbled. _“Uh... yes, I didn't really plan anything for today... why?”_

“Wanna go to the zoo with us?” Jaebum requested. “I mean... with Yoonhee and me?”

“Please, Jinyoung-ssi. I really wanna go to the zoo today!” Yoonhee called again, making even Jinyoung laugh a bit.

“ _You can't go without me?”_

“Actually no, I have a coupon.” Jaebum chuckled. “Two tickets for one, only for this month. Come one, that's a great deal for a broke university student and a single dad...”

“ _Sure it is.”_ Jinyoung was now laughing for real. _“So when and where?”_

“So you're coming?” Jaebum beamed, not able to control Yoonhee's cheers as soon as he said these words.

“ _Yeah...”_ Jinyoung agreed. _“My assignment is boring anyways...”_

“I hope that's not the only reason you agreed.” Jaebum laughed. “Let's meet right next to the front gates of the zoo, alright? Let's say... in two hours?”

“ _O...okay.”_ Jaebum didn't miss the hesitant tone in Jinyoung's voice but he decided not to act on that now. He was sure everything would be turning out great by the end of the day. He just had a feeling there and he wanted Jinyoung to know about it.

“Great. See you, babe.” And just like that, said feeling was gone again. Instead, Jaebum was biting his lip now, hoping Yoonhee didn't pick up on the _'babe'_ that shouldn't have slipped in that moment.

Now Jinyoung was laughing again. _“Yoonhee's still with you, is she?”_

“Yep.” Jaebum confirmed while looking down at his daughter who luckily didn't seem to have caught the nickname at all, being too absorbed into playing with the holes in his pants again, waiting for him to hang up.

Another loud laughter could be heard from the other side of the line. _“Good then,_ babe _, see you in two hours.”_


	13. Chapter 13

If you had asked Jinyoung three months ago, whether he'd prefer finishing his assignment or going to the zoo with a single father and his four-year-old, he'd have laughed at you and continued doing his homework.

Right now, he just wondered if “It was a family emergency” would count as an apology for his unfinished work. The thought made him blush a little but before his mind could dig deeper into that matter, he spotted said _family_ waiting for him in front of the entrance gates.

Yoonhee was balancing on top of the rocks surrounding a big, zoo themed sculpture while Jaebum was holding both of her hands so that she wouldn't fall. The little girl was grinning brightly while hopping from one rock to the next.

Jinyoung slowed down his walking pace by a bit, watching the two of them for a moment while approaching them. It wasn't the first time he was amazed by how carefree and happy the two of them seemed. How easy everything looked for Jaebum and how much Yoonhee enjoyed his attention.

“Jinyoung-ssi!” Yoonhee called, once she spotted him from her enhanced position. She was waving at him before Jaebum helped her jumping down the rocks by holding her waist firmly. Then, he turned to smile at Jinyoung who picked up his normal walking pace again... If not even faster.

“Hey there.” he grinned at the two of them, giving them a short wave like he always did.

“Hi.” Jaebum smiled, about to lean in for a short kiss but Yoonhee was already tugging on his hand.

“Let's go in!!” she called, trying to pull her father along.

“Okay!!” Jaebum said with the exact same intonation before laughing and letting himself drag towards the entrance.

Jinyoung just took a deep breath and followed them, actually amused by how excited Yoonhee was. Even when they were lining up to get the tickets, Yoonhee was still bouncing up and down like a bouncy ball.

“But you've been to the zoo before, right?” Jinyoung asked Jaebum as they were standing next to each other with Yoonhee jumping in front of them.

“Yep. She just loves it and gets all excited about it every time.” Jaebum chuckled, looking down at his daughter.

“Wow...” Jinyoung said, nodding his head in amazement.

“Don't worry. She'll calm down somewhere around the camel compound... then she's tired because of all that bouncing. Plus, she'll sleep like a log tonight.”

“Sounds good.” Jinyoung grinned, only to have Jaebum smirking and bumping his shoulder against his.

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Daddy, look! It's only.... one, two... three.... people and then we can go in.” Yoonhee beamed, hopping out and back into the line.

“I know, princess.” Jaebum chuckled, petting her head.

“Is the camel compound somewhere near the entrance or...?” Jinyoung asked before biting his lip, knowing Jaebum wouldn't like that question. Judging by the look he was getting, he was right, even though Jaebum quickly pulled himself together and replaced the frown with a smile in less than half a second.

“It's not that far... somewhere in the first half of the tour. But I'm sure you'll make it.” he then answered, sticking his tongue out at the younger.

In that moment, the elderly woman standing in front of them took her ticket and made her way through the gate.

While Jaebum ordered their tickets, Yoonhee was already rushing past him, stopping just a few centimeters before the gate, impatiently waiting to finally be able to enter.

Once Jaebum paid for the tickets, he handed one to Jinyoung. Yoonhee turned around, looking at her father with pleading eyes but he just grinned at her, holding the ticket out of her reach.

“Daddyy~~” she whined, jumping up, trying to grab the ticket but Jaebum didn't give in. He just kept grinning.

Yoonhee jumped a few more times, always missing the ticket by only a bit while constantly complaining and laughing at the same time. They continued this game for a few more jumps until Jaebum finally held the ticket low enough for Yoonhee to snatch it out of his hand. She immediately jumped through the gate and rushed towards the flamingo lake that was located right next to the entrance.

“I fear the day she turns 6... then her ticket won't be for free anymore...” Jaebum mumbled while Jinyoung was still amused by the scene that just took place.

“I didn't know Im Jaebum can be that mean to his princess sometimes.” he chuckled, ignoring the statement from before. “I see you in a different light now.”

Again, the red-haired stuck out his tongue at his lover. “Well, learning never stops. Although, I wouldn't consider that as mean. It's just teasing.”

“Uh-huh...” Jinyoung nodded, jerking his head to the side to get his bangs out of his eyes. “That's something you're good at.”

At that, Jaebum gasped at him while they came to a standstill right behind Yoonhee, who was excitedly leaning over the middle handrail to have a better view at the flamingos. Now it was Jinyoung's time to stick out his tongue at the elder.

“You little... Yoonhee, princess! Don't lean over there; you could fall.” Jaebum quickly snapped out of his revenge plotting, seeing Yoonhee jumping up a little while still holding onto the rail.

“Okay~” she sang, leaning back immediately with only her fingertips touching the handrail while she was now on her tiptoes.

Laughing, Jaebum shook his head and went to lift the little girl up. “You can't see anything from down there, can you?”

Yoonhee also shook her head before she finally smiled at the horde of pink birds. “But daddy why do most of them only have one leg? I asked BamBam oppa but he did not know either.”

“Uh...” Jaebum thought for a second. “They do have two legs. They're just standing on one only.”

“But why?”

“They don't wanna get cold feet.” Jinyoung mumbled, making father and daughter turn their heads towards him with widened eyes. Seeing that they're actually listening to him with interest, he cleared his throat before continuing. “See... they have one foot in water and one tucked up. The one in the water gets cold pretty fast while the other one is kept warm... and once in a while they switch because they don't wanna have two cold feet.”

“Makes sense.” Jaebum chuckled and Yoonhee nodded while sliding out of Jaebum's hold, down onto the ground again. There, she spread her arms, trying to stand on one leg only.

“Look, I can do that, too!” she beamed before wobbling and quickly putting her foot down again in order not to fall.

“Sure. Shall I call you my little flamingo from now on?” Jaebum laughed and patted her head a few times. She only giggled before proceeding towards the next compound with little jumps.

“Thanks.” Jaebum then said, smiling at Jinyoung.

“I don't know about you but I learned that in school.” Jinyoung only shrugged, receiving a nudge on the shoulder in reward.

“You might've figured already but paying attention in biology class wasn't really my cup of tea.”

The younger male almost choked at that seemingly inappropriate remark, staring at Jaebum with widened eyes before glancing over at Yoonhee for a second, making the red-haired laugh again. “S...Sorry?”

Jaebum let out a long breath, trying to stop his laughter at the shocked expression on Jinyoung's face. “C'mon... If I hadn't said it, you probably would've thought that anyway.”

Thinking about if for a short moment, Jinyoung bit his lip, remembering YoungJae's first assumption after telling him about Jaebum having a child at such a young age. So that kind of reaction must've been standard and obviously, Jaebum was pretty much aware of that.

“But I didn't.” Jinyoung then said. “I usually don't judge people right away. I hate prejudices.”

Jaebum hummed in response, remembering how Jinyoung stayed after their first night, only to make sure his first thought on the Lego bricks wasn't that close to reality. He chuckled softly before reaching for Jinyoung's hand. They stepped a bit closer together while intertwining their fingers behind their backs. “Thanks for that.”

“But I mean... you just confirmed that one yourself.” Jinyoung then chuckled while shoving Jaebum to the side a bit, his hand still gripping the other's tightly. Of course it didn't take long for Yoonhee to turn away from the zebras and giraffes to look at the bickering couple. She stared at them with a big question mark on her face, making Jaebum bite his lower lip and swallow his laughter.

“What's it, princess?”

But Yoonhee didn't answer. Instead, her eyes landed on their intertwined hands before she looked back up at Jaebum with her head tilted to the side in confusion. Then, she quickly spun around, latching herself onto her father's free hand, hugging his arm while throwing Jinyoung a short but sharp glance which the latter tried to ignore.

Jaebum closed his eyes and took a deep breath before squeezing both hands that were tightly gripping onto his. “Okay who wants to see the elephants?” he then asked, looking down at Yoonhee while stroking her hand with his thumb in a loving manner.

“Me!” she announced loudly, smiling again while pulling both men along towards the elephants.

 

 

It was around one hour later when the trio agreed on having lunch.

“Hmm... sorry but this time, I can't treat you.” Jaebum mumbled, counting the money he found in the depth of his pockets while they were lining up in front of the food stalls at the Marine Pavilion. The line was incredibly long and Jaebum already regretted not thinking about it earlier. It was Sunday, lunch time. Of course there would be hordes of people waiting to grab some food before proceeding through the zoo.

“Nah... you already paid the entrance money.” Jinyoung brushed him off while pulling out his wallet.

“Yeah, because it was for free.” Jaebum frowned but Jinyoung just chuckled.

“Just see it as two tickets for half the price each. And thanks for treating me.”

Now, Jaebum was also chuckling. “No problem, b-” he stopped himself, making a popping sound instead. But of course Jinyoung caught it and raised an eyebrow at him to which Jaebum could only grin. “Buddy.”

“This will take ten hours~” Yoonhee whined next to them, leaning out of the line to see how long it was while tightly holding onto Jaebum's hand for support.

“Don't worry, princess. It's not going to take ten hours.” Jaebum said, gently pulling her back into balance. “It's just gonna take a few more minutes... the line isn't moving very fast. What do you think? Fifteen minutes? Twenty? Thirty?” Jaebum asked Jinyoung but the younger just shrugged.

“I don't know... but looks like we gotta wait if we want some food, right?”

Jaebum nodded. “I guess...”

“Is it always that crowded in here?” Jinyoung wondered and Jaebum shook his head.

“Last time I came here, there were barely any people...” he sighed. “That's why we usually don't go on Sundays...”

They waited for around three minutes when Yoonhee let go of her father's hand, lifted her arms to the side again and stood on one leg. “Look, I'm a flamingo again.”

“Weren't you a camel ten minutes ago?” Jinyoung wondered, looking at the seemingly bored girl.

“But now I'm a flamingo with only one cold foot.”

Jaebum laughed at that and Jinyoung couldn't help but chuckle as well. Yet, another minute later, Yoonhee wasn't a flamingo anymore.

“It's boring...” she then stated. Jinyoung nodded in agreement.

“Sorry, princess. There's nothing we can do now.” Jaebum sighed, ruffling her hair in a loving manner. “But then we won't be hungry anymore when we're going to see the bears and the deer...”

“Yay~ Bambi!” Yoonhee beamed before falling silent again. Somewhere in the line in front of them, a child started crying and Jinyoung caught himself throwing Yoonhee a short, worried glance which he regretted immediately, once he saw Jaebum looking at him.

But the red-haired only hid a chuckle behind the back of his hand, obviously amused by Jinyoung's almost far-fetched fear of an crying Yoonhee. Pouting a bit, Jinyoung looked away, facing the massive dolphin tanks on the other side of the place. He noticed a mother with two sons, one a few years older than Yoonhee, the other one still in a stroller. They were walking along the side of the tank, animatedly talking about the animals.

“It's really, really boring.” Yoonhee complained again, throwing her arms around Jaebum's thighs while leaning her whole body against him, hiding her face in the fabric of his ripped jeans.

“Wanna go and see the dolphins, Yoonhee?” Jinyoung heard himself asking all of a sudden, making both, Jaebum and Yoonhee turn to look at him. That's when he realized that he, again, spoke his thoughts before finishing them. “I mean... it's okay if only one of us is waiting in the line, right?” he added with a nervous laughter as a wave of uncertainty washed over him, a part of him hoping Yoonhee would say no or Jaebum would offer to go with her. But neither of that happened. Instead, Yoonhee let go of Jaebum completely before taking a step towards Jinyoung with a bright grin on her face.

“Can we, daddy?” she then asked Jaebum, spinning around again to look at him. “Please~”

“Uhm...” Jaebum's eyes searched for Jinyoung's, trying to find any hint of uncertainty in them, obviously pressing his lips together to stop himself from smiling too soon. “Sure?”

Yoonhee already took that as a yes, grinning even brighter while latching herself onto Jinyoung's left arm. Only Jinyoung got Jaebum's tone, giving him a short, assuring nod that cut off the moment he felt Yoonhee holding onto him. He was not sure whether he was assuring Jaebum or himself that it wasn't going to be hard taking Yoonhee to the other side of the place, watching the dolphins. Couldn't be worse than braiding the little girl's hair, Jinyoung kept telling himself, once he realized there was no turning back. Everything just happened so fast that he didn't even have the time to fully panic about his sudden idea.

“Good, then.” Jaebum smiled. “I'll be right here if you need me.”

Yoonhee giggled but Jinyoung knew that Jaebum really meant it this time so he mouthed a 'Thank you' at him before letting Yoonhee drag him away.

The unusual warmth of the tiny, soft fingers wrapped around his own had him fighting the urge to pull his hand away. Seeing Yoonhee running around like crazy before taught him not to let go of her if he didn't want anything to happen that would most probably have Jaebum stop talking to him altogether. He was lucky enough that the elder was right and Yoonhee, indeed, calmed down a bit when they were at the camel's compound. It didn't last for long, though.

“I'm so hungry, I will eat one hundred fries!” Yoonhee announced while happily skipping up and down next to Jinyoung, making his arm follow her movements.

“One hundred is a lot.” he stated, actual amusement covering the nervous shake in his voice. “Are you sure about that?”

“Of course! I'm sooo hungry. Like the big lion.” Yoonhee said, referring to the feeding at the lions compound they watched earlier.

Jinyoung nodded, carefully moving his fingers in Yoonhee's hold as he felt them getting slightly sweaty. That's when the little girl let go of his hand and ran the last few steps towards the tank. Jinyoung held his breath for a second but once Yoonhee stopped right in front of the glass, he quickly caught up with her and allowed himself to breathe again. Yoonhee had her palms pressed against the glass now, sliding them down slowly which left ten slightly wet fingerprints. Jinyoung buried his hands into his pockets, turning to look for Jaebum. The red-haired was playing with his phone while slowly taking two steps forward, following the line. But as soon as Jinyoung was about to turn away, Jaebum pocketed his phone again and looked up as well, quickly catching Jinyoung's gaze. He threw him another bright smile before the line moved forward a bit more.

“Oh look, Jinyoung-ssi!” Yoonhee suddenly exclaimed next to him, making him turn around. “Look how close the dolphin is!”

“Uh-huh...” Jinyoung nodded quickly. “Cool.” He squeezed his eyes shut for a second then, shaking his head. He was being awkward again.

“They're my favorite fish, you know?” Yoonhee beamed, tearing her eyes away from the majestic animal moving around in the water.

Jinyoung sucked in a breath. Jaebum really must've hated bilogy class. “Actually.... they're mammals.”

Yoonhee's hands slid down the glass with a squeaking noise as she was just staring at him, blinking rapidly.

“Ehm...” Jinyoung chuckled softly, partly because he actually just tried telling a four-year-old that dolphin's aren't fishes by using the word mammals and partly because he couldn't deny that Yoonhee's confused expression looked adorable and he remembered his friends swooning over the little girl's cuteness. “So ehm... dolphins don't lay eggs?” he then offered her the simplest explanation he could come up with but Yoonhee was still blinking at him.

“Like birds?”

“N...yeah, kinda.” he stammered sheepishly. “Fish usually lay eggs but dolphins... don't. And because of that, they're not called fish.” Kind of.

Yoonhee blinked one last time before nodding and turning back to look at said animals. “I still like them! I wanna swim with them like Arielle does!”

In his head, Jinyoung thanked his sisters for putting him through the whole torture of Disney princess movies when they were kids. Since he's the youngest and the only boy in their family, he didn't have much to say when it came to television entertainment. And now, finally, everything paid off, he thought, chuckling softly. “But you're not a mermaid.”

Yoonhee puffed out a sharp breath, pushing both hands against her hips before looking at Jinyoung again with a serious face that made Jinyoung laugh. “I will be a mermaid when I'm older.” she stated.

Swallowing the rest of his laughter, Jinyoung tried to even his breath before choking out a short “Sure.”

Yoonhee turned back towards the tank with a satisfied expression and Jinyoung stepped closer by a bit, eyeing the smaller fish in the huge tank that were moving so much quicker than the dolphins. “Do you... do you know the movie Finding Nemo?” he then asked, spotting a familiar blue fish behind the seaweeds.

“Of course!” Yoonhee nodded forcefully.

Jinyoung smiled to himself now, glad to have found something to talk about. “See that fish over there? It looks like Dory.”

“Oooh where?!” Yoonhee's eyes went wide as she pressed herself closer against the glass. “Where, where?”

Jinyoung leaned down a bit, pointing at the fish from her perspective. “Right there behind the seaweed.”

“Oh I can see it!” the little girl then exclaimed, waving at the fish. “Hello Dory!”

Straightening his back again, Jinyoung pushed his hands back into his pockets. Maybe Mark and Jackson were right. There was nothing scary about Yoonhee. If talking to her about a famous fictional fish was necessary for him to be with Jaebum, then he could do it.

That's when he felt Yoonhee tugging on the sleeve of his coat, bringing him back to reality. “Jinyoung-ssi!”, she called, sounding like she already called his name before without him listening.

“What is it? Has Jaebum gotten our food already?” he quickly turned around with a hopeful gaze but it soon was crashed by Jaebum still being the seventh person in the line, typing on his phone again.

“Jinyoung-ssi... I need to pee.” Yoonhee said in a thin voice Jinyoung hadn't heard today. He spun around immediately again. Then, his eyes widened and he looked around the place, sure to have seen some signs earlier, showing where the restrooms were. Once he found it, he turned back to Yoonhee.

“It's over there.” he said, pointing into the direction relieved that it really was just a few steps away. Yet, Yoonhee didn't move. Her thumb and index finger were still holding onto his coat as she looked up at him, again blinking rapidly as if waiting for him to do something. And there was the panic again. “What?” he asked, voice cracking a bit.

“Won't you come with me?” she wondered as if it was the most normal thing to do. Which it wasn't for Jinyoung.

“Well... I can't go to the women's restroom, can I?” Jinyoung chuckled nervously, his fingers clutching the insides of his pockets.

Yoonhee didn't reply to that. She just kept looking at him like waiting for someting.

“Does... Jae- your daddy... go with you... normally?” Jinyoung then wondered.

At that, she nodded and Jinyoung quickly overthought his thoughts from earlier. Spending time with a child was hard after all. Whether it was the daughter of his boyfriend or not, but he was definitely not going to go to the women's toilet with her! Going to the zoo instead of finishing his assignment was crazy enough already. This Sunday didn't need to get crazier. Almost frantically, his eyes searched for Jaebum in the line again, panic starting to rise inside of him as he couldn't find the elder at first. He immediately felt lighter, once he spotted him.

Turning back to Yoonhee, he tried to hide his worried expression. “Can you... wait a bit?”

She shook her head and Jinyoung pressed his lips together.

“Okay uhm...” His gaze shifted back towards Jaebum. “Wait...”

“But I said I can't wait...” her voice changed into a rather whiny tone, ringing the alarm bells inside of Jinyoung's head as she was tugging onto his sleeve once again. “Really...”

“Oh god.” Jinyoung whispered to himself as she started to tug harder, trying to pull him into the direction of the restrooms and his brain started calling various chants of “Help me, Jaebum!”

Having no other choice, he gave in, following Yoonhee until they stopped in front of the two doors separating the men's and the women's bathroom. Jinyoung rolled his eyes, seeing that there were also some people waiting outside. Yoonhee said she couldn't wait. Why did they have to, now?

“But I can't possibly go in there, Yoonhee.” Jinyoung told her then, keeping his voice down while still not lining up, not knowing what to do. His left hand slipped out of his pocket now, intuitively grabbing Yoonhee's sweaty one again while seriously wondering how Jaebum was dealing with this kind of situation.

“Excuse me?” he suddenly heard an elderly woman behind him, making him spin around. She was smiling at them while adjusting her hold onto her cane. “You can go first. Your lovely daughter doesn't have to wait.” she then said, stepping a bit aside while pointing at the unisex toilet for the disabled. Just then, the woman's words sunk in, making his face heat up. Daughter?

“She's n-” Jinyoung was about to say as the woman took a step forward, pinching Yoonhee's cheek before making a shooing gesture towards the bathroom.

“Now go. I can wait for a few more minutes.” she told Jinyoung with a sincere smile.

“T-thanks.” he stammered with a forced but also kind of relieved smile, quickly bowing while shoving Yoonhee into the big bathroom.

“But from here on, you can do that alone, can you?” he whispered to her, stopping at the threshold. “I can't come in there with you.”

“”But... I don't want to go alone.” Yoonhee said, pulling on his hand while crossing her legs. “Come in with me, please.”

Jinyoung closed his eyes before looking to the side. Was it even legal to do so? Would people report him? But then, Jaebum had to have been doing that as well before, right? Especially when Yoonhee was even younger... right?

“Fine...” he then sighed in defeat, slipping into the bathroom before closing the door behind them. Right after locking the door, he shuffled into the furthest corner of the huge bathroom, leaning his back against the tiled wall. Only when Yoonhee fumbled with the button of her pants, Jinyoung gasped, turning around with his eyes closed. How did he even get into that kind of situation? “Tell... me when you're done.” he said with a slightly shaky voice.

“Okay.” Yoonhee said and Jinyoung heard the shuffling sound of her clothes.

If there was one thing he was sure about, it was that he was absolutely not going to tell his friends about his current situation. Nobody should ever know about it. Even he wanted to forget about it already while he was still staring at the white tiles in front of him, trying to block out every single sound that was echoing through the room while focusing on his own breathing only. This was undoubtedly the most awkward situation in his whole life and it was a big mystery to him, how Yoonhee didn't seem to sense that at all. How she could be comfortable with another person in the room, Jinyoung could never...

And that's when his phone went off, making him curse in his mind. He fumbled for it, about to make it shut up when he saw Jaebum's name on the display. Of course he picked up the call with a quick swipe.

“ _Nyeong? I got something to eat. Where are you?”_ Jaebum's voice immediately came through the phone.

“... Yoonhee... needed to pee.” Jinyoung said through gritted teeth.

Jaebum gasped and Jinyoung could literally hear his eyes widen. _“Oh god. Did you... make it to the bathroom?”_

“Yep.”

“ _Thank god. But... wait... did she... go in alone?”_ Jaebum then stuttered.

The younger shook his head, though the red-haired couldn't see him at the moment. "She asked me to come with her..."

_"And uh... did... you?"_

“...Yep. But I'm good... they've got some really nice tiles in here...” Jinyoung answered, making Jaebum laugh.

“ _Fuck, I'm sorry. Should've warned you.”_ he chuckled _._

“I'm done!” Yoonhee then called behind Jinyoung only a second before he heard the flush.

“She's done.” Jinyoung sighed into the phone then, making Jaebum laugh even louder.

“ _Great! Then come or the food's gonna be cold. But again... I'm really sorry.”_

“Don't... we wanted to stop apologizing, didn't we?” Jinyoung chuckled. “See you in a second. And stop laughing!” With that he hung up on Jaebum, about to turn around. But he stopped in his tracks again.

“Have you buttoned up your pants?” he asked carefully.

“Yes!” Yoonhee said.

“Put down your shirt?”

“Yes!”

“Fine, then go wash your hands and then we'll go eat something.” Jinyoung sighed while he dared turning around.

“Okay~” Yoonhee cheered and hopped towards she sink which luckily, wasn't as high as usual sinks so she could reach it on her own.

Jinyoung let out a long breath he didn't know he was holding.

For Jaebum!

 


	14. Chapter 14

Jaebum's eyes kept skipping from Jinyoung's lower lip which was trapped between the younger's teeth to his jittery hands and back to his lips. They sat on the couch in the living room, Yoonhee sideways on Jaebum's lap and Jinyoung kneeling next to them, also sideways, trying to get the little girl's hair in a nice plait.

“Nervous?” Jaebum asked, putting his right hand onto Jinyoung's thigh while his left was still playing with the fabric of Yoonhee's cute, pink dress that she wanted to wear on her special day. As on cue, two black thatches of hair moved to nod in front of him, making Jaebum chuckle a bit. Jinyoung smiled sheepishly.

“I really wanna know what my present is~” Yoonhee then sang, bouncing up and down which caused her hair to slide out of Jinyoung's hold. The latter groaned softly, playfully rolling his eyes while waiting for Yoonhee to stop moving.

“I know, princess.” Jaebum laughed, though having his eyes locked with Jinyoung's. “Just wait a little more, okay? And stop moving so much. Jinyoung can't braid your hair like this.”

Yoonhee froze immediately, chuckling. “Sorry.”

Jinyoung showed Jaebum another, now thankful smile before picking up Yoonhee's hair again, continuing with his task while his hands were still shaking.

“Daddy when will grandma and grandpa be here?” Yoonhee asked, now playing with Jaebum's fingers on her lap.

“Soon.” Jaebum answered, patting the girl's thigh. At that, Jinyoung closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before sealing the second plait with a tie. “Just a few more minutes.”

“Done.” the younger then mumbled, dropping his hands down onto his lap and sitting back on his heels.

“Thank you, Jinyoung-ssi~” Yoonhee sang, sliding down onto the floor before spinning around, the two plaits and her dress swinging with the quick movement. Her smile spread over her whole face.

“Looking fabulous, princess.” Jaebum grinned at her. “You should go to your room and have a look in the mirror. And why don't you comb Elsa's hair? She has to be pretty for the party as well, right?”

Yoonhee's eyes widened and her mouth formed itself to an o-shape before. “Oh, you're right daddy! I'll go and get her.”

“I think you should dress her up in your room so that she'll have a great entrance later when your grandparents are here. You don't want them to see her with uncombed hair, do you?” Jaebum winked and Yoonhee nodded in agreement. Chuckling, Jaebum softly patted her butt, sending her off to her room.

Once she disappeared through the door, Jinyoung let out a relieved sigh, changing his position into properly sitting beside Jaebum. His fingers were still on his lap, nervously fumbling around. “Thanks.”

“She'll be back in five.” Jaebum said, amusement still prominent in his voice. “You're really nervous, are you? Kinda makes me feel bad for putting you through this.”

“I don't see what gives you the idea.” Jinyoung scoffed.

“I'm s-”

“Don't you dare apologize now, Jaebum!” A soft chuckle left his lips. “I agreed so it's not your fault. Though... I actually wonder how you can be so calm right now. I'm about to meet your parents!”

Jaebum nodded, turning towards Jinyoung by bringing his legs up onto the couch, throwing them over the younger's lap. Jinyoung snorted softly in complaint while pulling his hands from underneath his lover's legs, laying his palms on top of them. Much to Jaebum's amusement, he then started playing with his ripped jeans.

“You know... there was a day when I had to tell them that I knocked up my girlfriend but broke up with her because I liked another boy.”

“Sounds cruel when you say it like that.” Jinyoung chuckled again, now tracing his fingers around the fashion holes of Jaebum's pants. “But still... does that make you immune to being nervous now?”

Jaebum shook his head. “It's not only that... I told you my relationship to my parents isn't exactly... loving. They're just supporting me with money because of Yoonhee. Not to make my life easier.” he sighed. “If it wasn't for her living with me, they probably wouldn't talk to me at all. So I don't care about their opinion. Whether they're gonna choose to accept you or not... I'm completely indifferent to that. They have no right to judge. But they're probably gonna hate you anyway... just for the sake of it. ”

“Wow...” Jinyoung said with a whole lot of sarcasm in his words. “Now that cheered me up.”

Giggling, Jaebum leaned forward, grabbing Jinyoung's cold hands. “I'm just saying that there's no need for you to worry about it. They don't matter to me as much as you do.”

“Being sappy today, are we?” Jinyoung chuckled, sticking his tongue out at Jaebum who actually blushed at that, making Jinyoung laugh even more.

“Hey, I'm just stating the truth!” Jaebum whined, purposely pressing his legs down onto Jinyoung's lap. Jinyoung gasped, trying to wiggle away but Jaebum's thighs were strong enough to hold him down. Not that he was surprised by that. Eventually, he gave up and stayed still in his spot. “I mean I probably won't find myself another man who's actually considering to accompany my daughter to the women's bathroom.” Jaebum then chuckled.

“Exactly! I mean I'm thankful I didn't have to... but I probably would've!” Jinyoung nodded proudly and Jaebum laughed even louder. The younger tilted his head in confusion, squinting at Jaebum. “Why are you laughing?”

Jaebum shuffled backwards, throwing his legs off of Jinyoung again before leaning forward to wrap his arms around the black-haired man's shoulders. “You've been priding yourself on that for two weeks straight now.”

“So what? I think that's a huge sacrifice.” Jinyoung chuckled, leaning into Jaebum's embrace.

“Uh-huh...” the elder hummed, slowly running his fingers through Jinyoung's hair while reducing the gap between their faces. “That's really cute but I think I can tell you a secret now.” he then whispered.

Jinyoung licked his lips, anticipating the feeling of Jaebum's mouth pressed against the corner of his, the elder's breath hitting his skin so seductively already.

“You can easily take your daughter to the men's bathroom. People usually don't give a damn about that because it's a completely normal thing to do.” Jaebum then said, making Jinyoung's eyes widen at an instant.

“WHAT?!” the younger shrieked, pushing a now loudly laughing Jaebum away, almost making him fall off the couch at the same time as the doorbell was ringing through the apartment.

Jaebum quickly collected himself, hopping off the couch while leaving a still gaping Jinyoung behind. But Yoonhee was faster as she came darting out of her room, Elsa in her right hand while rushing past her father which left the latter standing in a gust of wind. “Grandma! Grandpa!” The next thing he heard was the sound of the front door opening and people shuffling into the apartment, jackets being zipped open and shoes being thrown onto the floor.

“Yoonhee!” Jaebum heard his father's voice being as loud as always, making him flinch a bit. “How's our birthday girl doing?”

“I can't believe how much you've grown since the last time we've seen you.” his mother sang, leaning down to pinch the little girl's cheek.

“Hello grandma, hello grandpa!” Yoonhee beamed at them before lifting Elsa up to their faces. “This is Elsa. She also says hello.”

“Hello Elsa.” Jaebum's mother said before straightening her back again. Only then her eyes met Jaebum's before quickly skipping over to Jinyoung who had gotten off of the couch by now and walked over to where Jaebum was still standing.

The latter's father now entered the living room as well, giving his son a short nod as a greeting. “Jaebum.”

“I'm glad you made it here.” Jaebum said and Jinyoung was actually surprised by how snarky his words sounded since he had never heard the elder talking like that. But maybe it was just his imagination, he thought, as he saw Yoonhee agreeing with a nod, grinning brightly.

“Oh of course we can't miss our only grandchild's fifth birthday. Right, little muffin?” Jaebum's mother smiled, pinching Yoonhee's cheeks once more before finally walking up to Jaebum and Jinyoung.

“And who are you, young man?” she asked, looking at Jinyoung while slightly squinting her eyes.

“I-” the latter cleared his throat. Never once had he felt this uncomfortable under a person's judging gaze. “I'm Jinyoung. Nice to meet you.”

“I'm delighted.” the woman said, lifting her hand a bit as if she was about to shake the black-haired male's but quickly brought it back down again, obviously opting against it.

“The cake looks good, Jaebum. Did you make it yourself?” Jaebum's father then called from the kitchen. Jinyoung heard Jaebum scoffing next to him.

“No, I picked it from the cake shop.” Yoonhee explained excitedly before Jaebum could answer that ridiculous question. Ridiculous, because nobody could actually expect Jaebum to make a cake like that, with a perfectly applied cover of light blue whipped cream and white snowflakes all over it. “We went there today and daddy allowed me to pick the one I like the most and then he bought it for me. This one looks like Elsa made it so I wanted it.”

“When you were younger, your mother used to make your birthday cake...” Jaebum's father commented while taking place on one of the chairs.

Jaebum took a deep breath before showing his father a strikingly fake smile. “She did. Because my father didn't even know how to make a cake with baking mix.”

Jinyoung gulped loudly, not daring to move until he heard Yoonhee calling his name with the usual excitement in her voice. “Daddy, Jinyoung-ssi! Come and sit with us! It's cake time!”

Jaebum nodded, quickly nudging the back of his hand against Jinyoung's hip as to signalize him to tag along and sit down.

Yoonhee beamed at everyone, moving from the left to the right on her chair, waiting for someone to cut the cake.

“Since you're the birthday girl, why don't you help me with it?” Jaebum's mother said, reaching for the knife. Then, she grabbed Yoonhee's hand, putting it on top of her own while slicing the cake slowly. The little girl grinned proudly as the first slice landed on her plate.

“It looks so yummy~” she cheered, looking down at the light blue whipped cream separating the vanilla cake with a thick line.

Jaebum's parents agreed with a hum while Jaebum himself smiled at Yoonhee, glad to see her happy like that. “Bon appétit, princess.” he said and his daughter beamed at him before poking her fork into the cake.

After that, nobody spoke a word. Except for Yoonhee, everyone probably realized that the atmosphere in the room was so thick, it could've been cut with the cake knife in front of them.

Jinyoung flinched every time his fork hit the plate and created a chinking sound because right now, it was the only thing that could be heard in the room. That and Yoonhee's chair squeaking as she was still wiggling in it, humming softly because of the sweet cake. Even if Jaebum hadn't told him that he was kind of awkward with his parents, right now would have been the moment for him to realize and once again, he was amazed how Yoonhee seemed so oblivious towards it. Of course, Jaebum and his parents kept up the act of being nice to each other but right now, it was just so, so awkward that Jinyoung wanted the ground to swallow him alive.

When Jaebum's father finished his second slice of cake, he prayed that he wouldn't take a third one because that would mean they had to sit there for a few more minutes. Luckily he didn't. Yoonhee was also looking around, happy to see five empty plates.

“Can I get my presents now?” she asked, still wiggling from left to right and Jaebum chuckled, wiping a bit of the whipped cream off of her dress.

“Sure. If nobody wants another piece of cake?” he then said, his voice clearly underlining that someone asking for more cake was absolutely unwanted. They would eat the rest of it tomorrow with BamBam and YuGyeom.

“No thank you, Jaebum. I'm full now.” his mother said, showing the plate away. “It's a really heavy cake. I used to make them with less cream.”

“It's sweeter with more cream though.” Jaebum just said before getting up, his chair making a rather loud noise while being shoved backwards. He then grabbed the empty plates, piling them up. Jinyoung got up as well, about to help Jaebum as it seemed to be a welcomed distraction from his current situation but the elder's mother stopped him.

“Let me do it.” she said, snatching a plate away from Jaebum.

“Thanks.” he mumbled before turning towards his daughter. “Then... shall we get your present, princess?”

Yoonhee quickly nodded at him, clapping her hands. “Yes yes yes yes yes~”

Jaebum threw her another smile before looking at Jinyoung, jerking his head towards the bedroom while mouthing. “Come.”

Jinyoung gladly followed him out of the kitchen. Once they got to the bedroom, Jaebum closed the door behind them and Jinyoung let out a loud sigh. “Oh my god...”

Against his expectation, Jaebum chuckled softly. “I know. And again I'm-”

“Sorry.” Jinyoung finished the elder's sentence. “And this time you better be! Is it always this bad?”

“Oh until now it has gone pretty well. I've experienced worse but thank god they pull themselves together when Yoonhee's around...”

“Jesus...” Jinyoung groaned while Jaebum walked over to the closet, opening it. He grabbed the huge present that he put on the top shelf so that Yoonhee wouldn't find it while sneaking through the apartment, searching for hints.

“I think the worst part is done. Yoonhee will save the present part.” Jaebum said, handing the heavy box over to Jinyoung to close the closet again.

The present was wrapped in light pink paper with white flowers on it and an equally white ribbon was tied around it.

“I feel like I'm getting better at this with each time.” Jaebum chuckled, looking at the almost neatly wrapped box Jinyoung was now holding. “Wait two more years and they'd think I'm a professional.”

“If you say so.” Jinyoung laughed, eyeing the imperfections all over the present he was holding. He was just about to turn around and leave the room but he stopped. “I kind of don't wanna go back out there.”

“Me neither but I can't leave my poor innocent daughter alone with them.” Jaebum sighed.

“She doesn't seem to have a problem with them though.” Jinyoung said.

Jaebum shook his head, taking the box again. “Yet.”

Again, Jinyoung let out a long breath before opening the door.

As soon as Jaebum stepped into the room, Yoonhee gasped loudly. “Ooooh it's so big what is in there?”

“That really is a huge present.” Jaebum's mother commented. “What did your daddy get for you?”

“Actually, this is a present from Jinyoung and me.” Jaebum said to Yoonhee as he put it onto the floor where the little girl was already sitting, anticipation glistening in her eyes.

“Really?? Thank you, Jinyoung-ssi~” Yoonhee sang, grinning up at him while sliding closer towards the huge pink box.

Jaebum chuckled and sat down on the floor as well, patting the spot next to him, telling Jinyoung to take place.

Jaebum's parents sat down on the couch. His mother was also holding a small present now. It was wrapped in orange paper with butterflies and teddy bears on it but she still kept it on her lap.

“Now see what's inside, princess.” Jaebum looked back down and cheered on Yoonhee, who was obviously itching to rip the paper.

Of course, the little girl didn't need to be told twice and quickly undid the ribbon before literally shredding the wrapping paper into pieces. Jinyoung laughed, seeing how Jaebum's effort was appreciated.

When the paper was gone and the photos on the box were revealed, Yoonhee's eyes widened immediately and she let out a loud gasp. “Is it really a bed??”

“A bed?” Jaebum's father wondered. “Don't you have one? And isn't it too small for you?”

Laughing, Yoonhee shook her head. “No this is a bed for Elsa!” she said, trying to find a way to open the box but she didn't find one. “Daddy help me~”

Jaebum chuckled and got up, getting a knife from the kitchen. “All fingers away from the box!” he ordered and Yoonhee's hands flew up in the air immediately as she watched her father cutting the strong tape that was sealing the box. As soon as it was open, Yoonhee let out another cheering sound before literally digging into it.

“It's so so cool!” she called with her head sticking in the box while her hands were holding it on both sides so that she wouldn't fall over. Having brought the knife back to the kitchen, Jaebum nudged her side, telling her to step aside before he got the bed out of the box.

The wooden bed was light blue, just as Yoonhee had shown them in a toy catalog a few days after she said she wanted a bed for her favorite doll. It also had a white canopy with an embroidered floral pattern and small rhinestones on it. The sheets had the same design.

“It's exactly what I wanted! Thank you, daddy~” Yoonhee shuffled over to Jaebum, who was sitting on the floor again, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you~ and Elsa loves you too!”

Laughing, Jaebum hugged his daughter tightly, pecking her chubby cheek. “I love you too, princess.”

Yoonhee let go of him again, showing him a toothy grin before turning to hug an absolutely startled Jinyoung the same way as she'd just hugged Jaebum. The black-haired just patted her back awkwardly as a wave of pride and happiness washed over him. He quickly threw Jaebum a short glance, grinning at him. “Thank you, too, Jinyoung-ssi! You're the best sec-”

“Yoonhee, darling.” Jaebum's mother interrupted her. “Why don't you open our present now?”

Yoonhee turned around and let go of Jinyoung who now felt his face heating up under Jaebum's stare. The little girl took the orange present with both hands.

“Is it a book?” she smiled, feeling the weight and the shape of the wrapped object in her hands. “Daddy, I think it's a book. You have to read it for me~”

“That's great!” Jaebum laughed. “Because we have finished Harry Potter.”

Jinyoung looked at his boyfriend with widened eyes but the red-haired pressed his index finger against his lips and shook his head when Yoonhee wasn't looking. In no way Jaebum would read further from where he stopped last time, giving Yoonhee nightmares about Voldemort killing Cedric Diggory or just the scary merpeople who weren't as nice as Arielle.

Humming happily, Yoonhee unwrapped the present until she indeed held a book in her tiny hands. Yet, Jaebum's smile dropped as soon as he recognized the book.

“Your daddy should really read it for you. It's a great book.” his father said, patting Yoonhee's shoulder. His wife agreed with a nod.

“What is it called?” Yoonhee asked, still smiling even after failing to make out the words on the cover. She stretched one hand towards her grandfather so that he could read it for her.

“The Happy Family. It's a very old book.” he said.

Jaebum's mother nodded again. “Yes. My mother read it for me when I was your age and she got it many years before I was born. And I also read it for your daddy when he was a little boy. It is about how happy the children are, living with their mommy and their daddy.”

“But my mommy does not live with us. I have a second daddy now.” Yoonhee grinned, totally unaware of Jinyoung freezing behind her and Jaebum biting his lower lip.

Her grandmother's smile turned cold. “What?”

“Jinyoung-ssi is my second da-”

“Im Jaebum!” Jaebum's father hollered, getting up from the couch which had Yoonhee stop talking and taking a step back in surprise, clutching the book close to her chest. “Are you being serious? Is that what you're teaching your daughter? You better read that book yourself once more!”

By now, Jaebum was also back on his feet, his hands clenching into fists. “You read me that stupid book enough for me to know what's written inside.”

“And still you're comfortably displaying your abnormal sexual preference in front of your daughter? I thought you were over that phase.” His mother shrieked, her voice now higher and louder than before while the smile had eventually vanished from her face.

“Stop it.” Jaebum growled, taking a step towards his parents.

“No, Jaebum. This is about Yoonhee, she-”  
“I SAID STOP IT!” the red-haired male shouted. “Stop talking to me like I'm a bad, selfish person!”

Now, Jaebum's mother got up as well. “But you are just that, Jaebum! Do you not want a mother for your daughter? Do you want Yoonhee to feel like an outsider because her daddy is frolicking with a... a _faggot_?” she pointed at Jinyoung who was just watching the scene with his eyes and mouth wide open. But somehow, his fingers had found their way around Jaebum's wrist when the elder was about to take another step forward.

The last spoken word was still ringing in his ears until Jaebum's loud voice cut through the unpleasant sound of it.

“DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE CALL HIM THAT!” he screamed, making his mother flinch a bit. “I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOUR SHITTY IDEA OF A HAPPY FAMILY, YOU KNOW? HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE FACT THAT I MIGHT BE HAPPY NOW? THAT _WE'RE_ HAPPY? JUST BECAUSE I'M YOUR ONLY CHILD I'M NOT BOUND TO FULFIL YOUR DREAMS OF HAVING AT LEAST THREE GRANDCHILDREN AND A PRETTY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW TO GO WEDDING DRESS SHOPPING WITH! SO TAKE THAT FUCKING BOOK OF YOURS AND LEAVE MY FUCKING-”

“Jaebum...” Jinyoung's unusually quiet voice stopped him. The younger's fingers had tightened around his wrist, tugging on it. Jaebum was about to turn around and look at him but quickly realized that this wasn't about Jinyoung.

Yoonhee was still standing right there. She'd dropped the book and had her palms pressed against her ears, cowering towards Jinyoung who had his other hand laying on her shoulder.

“Shit...” Jaebum breathed, seeing her big eyes glistening in tears while she was staring at the book on the floor.


	15. Chapter 15

_SO TAKE THAT FUCKING BOOK OF YOURS AND LEAVE MY FUCKING-”_

_“Jaebum...” Jinyoung's unusually quiet voice stopped him. The younger's fingers had tightened around his wrist, tugging on it. Jaebum was about to turn around and look at him but quickly realized that this wasn't about Jinyoung._

_Yoonhee was still standing right there. She'd dropped the book and had her palms pressed against her ears, cowering towards Jinyoung who had his other hand laying on her shoulder._

_“Shit...” Jaebum breathed, seeing her big eyes glistening in tears while she was staring at the book on the floor._

 

He finally looked up to meet the eyes of a completely shaken Jinyoung before glancing at Yoonhee again. The younger male softly squeezed the little girl's shoulder before sliding his hand along her arm, gently grabbing her small hand to withdraw it from her ear and take it into his own. “C-Come with me?”

Yoonhee just nodded before stumbling after Jinyoung towards her own room.

Once the door fell shut behind them, Jaebum turned to look at his parents again. “Thank you very much.” he sighed, sarcasm dripping from every word. “It's probably her best birthday so far.”

“Jaebum-” his mother tried to reach out for him, but he quickly ducked away from her hand.

“Don't touch me!” he spat before picking up the book that was now laying on the floor, the pages folded under the weight of the cover. He then held it up for his mother to take. “Just go. If that's all you had to get off your chests... telling me I'm disgracing the family by being the _faggot_ I am.”

“But Jaebum, we-” his mother tried again.

“No. I've had enough of your bullshit. You can either accept me, _us_ the way we are or leave us alone once and for all. I can't and won't keep pretending in front of Yoonhee so it's up to you whether you wanna see her again or not.”

“Jaebum you can't-”

“I CAN!” Jaebum raised his voice again, making his father step in between his mother and him.

“Wait and see, Jaebum. Always remember who is paying for this apartment.” his father growled, snatching the book out of his son's hands.

“Thanks, but I'll scrape by, even without your help.” Jaebum hissed while walking over to the door, opening it. “That's all _I_ have to say. Now would you please leave? It's October 28 th and I'm trying to celebrate my daughter's birthday here. We don't need someone to ruin the mood for no reason except their own, outdated beliefs.”

“Fine.” Jaebum's father hissed after he and his wife put on their shoes. “But don't come asking for help later on.”

“Don't worry, I won't.” was the last thing Jaebum told them before throwing the door shut. “Fuck...” he then sighed, ruffling his hair before letting out a short, frustrated scream.

Closing his eyes, he leaned against the wall right next to the door, trying to calm down a bit while running his hands over his face.

It's not like he was surprised that the situation escalated like that. Deep inside he had always known it would come to this point, as his parents never tried to hide their opposition towards Jaebum's way of living. It started with him getting a girl pregnant by accident - especially at such a young age, before marriage - and ended with Jaebum just living the way he does. Taking care of Yoonhee instead of trying to find a full-time job even without anything but an average high school diploma to show being only a part of the list of things they had always held against their son. Along with that came the constant accusations of being selfish for not reaching out to Yoonhee's mother while also refusing to accept his parent's offer to house Yoonhee until he was _“mature enough to take care of a human being on his own”_. Jaebum shivered at the memory of these words leaving his mother's mouth five years ago. They also never understood why Jaebum wasn't even trying to find a new girlfriend, totally ignoring the fact that their son's last relationship had been with a boy.

They just wouldn't understand, telling him it was a stupid phase that came with puberty so if Jaebum had to be honest, the scene just now was bound to happen and he knew that all along. He'd only hoped that it wouldn't happen in front of his bubbly little daughter.

He cringed again, picturing her frightened expression from earlier as he walked up to the sofa, grabbing the Elsa doll from where Yoonhee had left it before making his way to the little girl's room, carefully knocking on the door. When nobody answered, he opened it slowly.

“You letting me in?” he asked, peeking into the room. “Elsa's here too.”

The sight that met his eyes in there made him forget about all about the trouble before, making him smile instead.

Jinyoung was sitting on the floor, his knees slightly bent while he was hugging Mr. Rabbit, who was sitting on his lap. Yoonhee was on the bed, sitting cross legged while holding a book in her hands that Jaebum knew all too well.

As soon as Jaebum had opened the door Jinyoung looked up at him but Yoonhee was concentrating on the book in front of her while reading out loud.

“But I love you as high as _I_ can hop, smiled Big Nutbrown Hare... ” Of course Jaebum knew that she wasn't reading for real. Yet, he was so proud that she actually memorized the lines he has read for her so many times that he'd lost count of it. “... and he hopped so high that his ears touched the tree-”

“ _Branches_ above.” Jaebum corrected while fully stepping into the room, closing the door behind him again. Yes, he too was able to quote that book with his eyes closed while dozing off with Yoonhee already sleeping in his embrace.

Now the little girl stopped citing the book and looked up as well, examining him from head to toe for a moment. “Where are grandma and grandpa?”

“They... had to leave.” Jaebum said, watching Jinyoung's fingers nervously playing with the stuffed animal as he didn't know where to look. Only then he allowed his eyes to meet the younger's. “I see Yoonhee's reading you Guess How Much I Love You?”

Jinyoung nodded while Jaebum walked over to them, sitting down next to Yoonhee on the bed, handing her Elsa. “I asked her which book she likes the most. ...You okay?”

“Sure. It's my princess' birthday so of course I'm more than okay.” Jaebum turned to smile at her before softly poking her side. The little girl clutched Elsa against her chest and squeaked, shifting away from him a bit. Yet, it didn't have the cheery effect Jaebum had wished for as she was now curled up as a ball on the other side of the bed, not looking at him. “Hey princess~” he whispered, leaning over to fix her rumpled dress a bit. “Listen... daddy just said a few really bad things...”

Yoonhee buried her face deeper into the blanket underneath her, hiding behind a few pillows while letting out a loud sob which was muffled by the doll that was now pressed against her face.

Jaebum bit his lip for a second, looking down at Jinyoung. The younger had his head resting against the mattress and was now helplessly staring up at Jaebum. His fingers stopped running through the plushie's fur, instead he just pulled it closer to his chest.

“You yelled...” Yoonhee sniffled, making Jaebum turn back to her. Reaching out again, he softly stroked her head and back in order to calm her down.

“I know... I'm sorry. But you see...” he started but he didn't know how to. He didn't know how to justify his actions for Yoonhee to understand. After a long breath, he shifted further onto the bed, leaning his back against the wall while staring down at his lap. Jinyoung was still looking at him, also waiting for Jaebum to say something, anything. “You see... when Elsa left the castle, she was really sad and angry, right? Because she thought she had to hide a part of herself in order not to create... problems... And as soon as she was alone, she sang a song to... express her anger.”

Yoonhee let out another sob before nodding into her fort of blankets and pillows.

“Elsa just sang the song because she knew that screaming isn't a nice thing to do.” Jaebum then smiled softly, almost chuckling to himself. “Maybe I should take her as an example...”

A quiet scoff came from Jinyoung before Yoonhee finally peeked out from her hiding place.

“But why were you angry, daddy?”

Another sigh left Jaebum's lips as he leaned his head back against the wall, eyes fixed on the pink, balloon shaped ceiling lamp.

“Okay... remember when some of your friends told you that you can't have two daddies?”

Jinyoung swallowed loudly, finally tearing his gaze away from Jaebum to look down at Mr. Rabbit instead. Jaebum quickly glanced at him before looking up again and continued.

“Grandma and grandpa said so too... and they were trying to convince us that... that they're right. But they're so, so wrong thinking that. And when they called Jinyoung a f-... an ugly name, I got really angry and yelled at them, saying the nasty word nobody is supposed to say...” the red-haired let out another sigh. “I suppose I wasn't any better than them right now... So I'm sorry you had to hear this, princess.”

As he whispered the last words, Yoonhee crawled towards him, settling herself on his lap. Jaebum was quick to wrap his arms around her and kiss the top of her head so that she couldn't run away anymore.

“That's Im Jaebum... always apologizing.” Jinyoung sighed, leaning his head back against the mattress again to look at father and daughter with a soft smile on his lips. “And always getting away with it.”

“You shut up, I did that for you.” Jaebum said and playfully poked his toes against Jinyoung's shoulder while hugging Yoonhee tightly.

“My knight in shining armor.” the younger man chuckled as he got up from the floor, brushing some dust off his pants. “So what about having a second round of cake before showing Elsa her new bed?”

Jaebum was about to say something but it stuck in his throat as he was just gaping at his boyfriend in a mix of surprise and admiration. Yoonhee on the other hand was as oblivious as always and sat up on his lap again, beaming at Jinyoung. “Yes please! But daddy won't get cake because he said the bad f-word!”

Now Jaebum gasped, staring at his daughter with widened eyes before starting to laugh. “Excuse me? I bought you a huge birthday present!” he exclaimed while crawling off of he bed as well.

“ _We_ bought her a huge birthday present.” Jinyoung laughed at the red-haired's reaction and Yoonhee just nodded, still grinning brightly.

“...You... you're ganging up on me?!” Jaebum shrieked before leaping forward, scooping up the little girl who squealed at that. He then tried to grab Jinyoung's arm but the younger was quick to push the door open and run into the living room.

Carrying a joyfully squeaking Yoonhee with his right arm, Jaebum chased his boyfriend around the sofa. “Yah! Park Jinyoung!” he called while Yoonhee tried to wiggle out of her father's hold. When she succeeded, she jumped onto the sofa, leaning over the armrest while laughing at the two men childishly chasing each other through the living room and into the kitchen. Jinyoung made a full circle around the kitchen island but Jaebum quickly rounded it the other way around, having Jinyoung run directly into his arms.

“Gotcha!” he panted while sneaking his arms around the younger's waist, dragging him back to the living room.

“Home advantage!” Jinyoung scoffed, also out of breath as he and Jaebum dropped down next to Yoonhee onto the sofa. The little girl was still chuckling as she shuffled closer to the teasing couple.

“Now that you got Jinyoung-ssi... can we get some more cake?”

 


	16. Epilogue

It was already way past two in the morning when Jaebum reached over the bar, shoving one brimful glass towards Jinyoung while claiming a second one as his own.

“You know… Mai Tai has never been my favorite.” Jinyoung called so that Jaebum could hear him despite the almost deafening music booming through the club, drowning the drunk talking of all the other people around.

“Then why are you drinking it?” Jaebum laughed, clumsily fumbling for the straw to take a sip.

Shrugging, Jinyoung did the same. “I don’t even know. Guess it’s the positive memory.”

“This is your third one tonight.” Jaebum stated after a short moment of counting in his already fuzzy mind. No, he wouldn't exclude the two of them from the drunk talking.

“So?” Jinyoung laughed before sucking on his straw, looking down as he let his finger run along the cocktail section of the menu lying next to them. “Though I guess I'll take a Blowjob next.”

Jaebum almost choked on his drink, hearing the last word falling from his lover’s lips. The lack of oxygen, the heat and the stage smoke multiplying the dulling effect of the alcohol already circulating in his system, making his mind wander into the gutter immediately. That, and Jinyoung looking absolutely flawless tonight. He let the straw fall from his lips, licking them before smirking at the younger. “Wanna head to the bathroom for that or…?”

Jinyoung grinned, straw temptingly stuck between his teeth before he let go of it as well, leaning closer towards the red-haired to catch up to his game. “Why asking? Would you prefer going down on me right here on the spot?” he giggled into Jaebum’s ear. The elder groaned at that, putting his glass onto the bar next to him before stepping closer towards Jinyoung, forcing the latter's back against the edge of the wooden surface. Still grinning, Jinyoung also put his glass aside, allowing Jaebum to trap him by leaning in.

“If you keep suggesting things like that, we won’t even make it to the bathroom.” the elder winked at him before capturing his lips between his own. Jinyoung sighed into the kiss, instinctively wrapping his arms around Jaebum’s neck to pull him closer, licking his lips with relish. Jaebum let his hands slide to Jinyoung’s butt, making the younger wiggle into his touch which forced their hips together. The elder groaned in both, desperation and pleasure, not bothering to hold himself back as he rocked into his boyfriend's crotch with a little more intensity, searching for even more friction than his tightening boxers and jeans provided at the moment.

“Jesus, that’s what the toilet stalls are for!” a high-pitched voice suddenly shouted behind them, making them jump apart while simultaneously rolling their eyes. Jaebum fell back against the bar as well, supporting himself with his elbows on the wooden surface while bending his right knee, the bottom of his shoe pressed against the foot of the bar behind him.

“Like you’re the one to talk, Jackson.” Jinyoung muttered, watching a giggly Mark throwing his arms around Jackson’s broad shoulders from the back as if he was about to jump up for a piggyback ride.

“Not complaining, just suggesting.” Jackson winked. “By the way… where is the birthday boy? We gotta drink a toast to him.” He then grabbed Jinyoung’s cocktail to take a sip before calling the bartender. “I’m having what he’s having!” he told him, trying to point at Jinyoung who shifted awkwardly in his place, not wanting to copy Jaebum's pose but not yet knowing what else to do to hide his growing boner from their nosy friends.

Yet, Jackson was too dizzy to point straight and so his finger landed on the tall, black-haired boy walking up to them.

“I won’t share my boyfriend with you!” YuGyeom stated, finding Jackson's finger on him as he was coming back from wherever he and BamBam had been. Not that anyone really wanted to question that. The latter was standing a step behind him, his left hand tightly holding onto YuGyeom’s while his right was fixing the younger’s hair.

“There! There’s the birthday boy!” Jackson called after the barkeeper. “Can we get a free drink for the birthday boy? His birthday was on Wednesday.”

The barkeeper just ignored the yelling male while mixing his Mai Tai.

“Jacks!” Mark shrieked, clasping his hand over his boyfriend’s mouth. As he let go again, Jackson sent BamBam an apologetic glance.

“Sorry, bro. I know I’ve only met you today, but I really wanted to treat you to free booze. You’re a great dude. Jaebum here owes you so much and of course, Jinyoung does too.” Said boys hissed in pain as Jackson clapped their shoulders with way too much enthusiasm before continuing his speech the same way. “Without you, they would’ve never met to create such a beautiful, _beautiful_ love. Because of you being such a caring friend to Jaebum, he could let go for a night and-“

“Thank you, Jackson, I think that’s enough.” Jinyoung stopped his friend by pressing his index finger against his lips while everyone else was laughing at the boy’s heartfelt but extremely alcohol influenced speech.

“I found it endearing.” Jaebum commented, putting his arm around Jinyoung’s shoulders before reaching for his drink again, lifting it. “To BamBam, because without his determination to get me laid, we wouldn’t be here right now. Happy Birthday again.”

Now also laughing, Jinyoung shrugged, also grabbing his glass from the bar behind him. “Alright, to BamBam!”

“To BamBam~” Mark and Jackson whooped in unison, the younger losing his balance stumbling a bit backwards as Mark pulled him closer to his chest.

“To you, baby. Happy Birthday!” With a smirk on his face, YuGyeom draped BamBam’s arm around his neck, keeping their fingers intertwined before pulling the blonde into a kiss. The other four broke into loud cheers.

“By the way… where’s YoungJae the 'lil loverboy?” Jackson suddenly asked after downing a huge gulp of the cocktail in his hand and squinted through the dimly lit and crowded place, trying to find his friend somewhere but Jinyoung patted his shoulder.

“No need to try. He already dumped us for his girlfriend.” he laughed.

“Whaaat?” Mark cried. “Damn, I missed the show.”

“Wasn’t much to see.” Jaebum chuckled. “They were in a hurry.”

Jinyoung leaned over Jaebum to put his already half empty glass back onto the bar while breathing a “Relatable…” into his ear. The elder gulped.

“Ay... they better take it slow. Yoonhee's cute and everything but I don't need another friend with a child yet.” Jackson whined, wildly waving his arms through the stuffy air.

“Thank you very much!” Jinyoung gasped, turning away from Jaebum again to glare at his friend.

Mark giggled once more. “Jacks' here is just disappointed that he didn't get me pregnant yet even though he's trying so hard.”

“Do you guys even hear yourselves talking when you're drunk?” Jinyoung deadpanned, resulting in Jackson turning to hug his boyfriend in a protective way.

“Come on, Jinyoung.” Jackson called. “You know we love Yoonhee. Look, even YoungJae admitted that she snatched his heart in a second.”

“Yoonhee snatches everyone’s heart in a second.” BamBam chimed in, looking at his boyfriend before grinning at Jaebum whose chest swelled a little in pride.

“Oh, calm down.” Jinyoung laughed, nudging his shoulder against his lover’s before grabbing his hand. “Tonight isn’t about the little one!”

“I know, I know” Jaebum laughed, not even bothering to put his drink onto the bar as he spun the younger around, slinging his right arm around him in the process. “Let's dance.” he then purred into his ear, sending shivers down Jinyoung's spine. The latter smirked at him, nodding as he let Jaebum lead him through the crowd of people, closer towards the dance floor, away from their, once again, loudly cheering friends.

“Is it just me being dizzy or were you in a hurry to get away from the guys?” Jinyoung asked, winking suggestively as soon as Jaebum stopped and turned him around once more.

“I guess it's a bit of both.” Jaebum smirked before leaning closer, putting his arms over the younger's shoulders, holding the cocktail glass up behind his back with both hands. “Since they interrupted us...”

Jinyoung grinned. He let his hands wander towards Jaebum's waist, clutching the elder's shirt on both sides to force their bodies closer again.

Seconds later, they found themselves in the continuation of their make out session from earlier. Jaebum had captured Jinyoung's lips in a heated kiss that tasted like liquor and lust and maybe a bit of love.

Scratch that. It tasted like a whole lot of love but in that moment, they decided to focus on the sexual component of their actions as they moved against each other, barely hitting the beat of the music by now since chasing the warmth and friction of each other's bodies has become their number one priority. The amount of people dancing around them was long forgotten as Jinyoung let out a lewd moan, throwing his head back in pleasure caused by Jaebum's thigh continuously rubbing against his crotch.

Smirking, the elder used his chance to press his lips onto Jinyoung's neck which was temptingly shimmering in sweat. He left butterfly kisses all the way down towards the black-haired's collarbone until he was met with the fabric of Jinyoung's checked flannel. Jaebum groaned a bit in frustration with his boyfriend's favorite piece of clothing being in the way. He unwrapped his arms from around Jinyoung's shoulders, now holding the half-filled cocktail glass between the two of them. Jinyoung smirked before sucking the straw between his already swollen lips, taking a sip right before kissing Jaebum again. The latter grinned into the kiss while using the index finger of the hand he's holding the cold glass with to finally shove Jinyoung's shirt down his shoulder. Jinyoung shivered as the almost icy condensation water dropped down from Jaebum's fingertip to his burning skin.

“Gosh...” he panted as they broke the kiss to catch their breaths, one hand flying up to grab Jaebum's hair while the other was now tightly pressed against his ass as he pushed his hips forward again. But that's when they suddenly stumbled apart due to a strong push from the side.

“Fuck!” Jaebum groaned, holding his dripping left hand with the now almost empty cocktail glass further away.

“Sorry~” someone called from somewhere in the crowd next to them but they couldn't quite make out who exactly it was.

Swearing under his breath, Jinyoung started to rub the sleeve of his slightly displaced flannel over the wet stain on the inner side of his upper thigh, trying to get rid of the sticky liquor seeping through his jeans. Still holding the glass up, Jaebum swallowed hard as he watched his boyfriend's useless action. Useless, when it came to removing the stain at least. When it came to Jaebum getting turned on even more, it did its job just perfectly.

“Babe...” the latter mumbled after clearing his throat once but the younger couldn't hear him so he stepped towards him again, grabbing his wrist to stop him from doing that. “Babe, that won't help.”

“Damn this...” Jinyoung muttered, barely loud enough for Jaebum to hear, before looking up at the elder whose gray t-shirt was also stained, clinging to his body at some parts. Again, Jaebum had to swallow because of the intensity his lover's glance seemed to have, peeking through the slightly damp bangs hanging in front of his eyes. “It's all... sticky... and wet!” Jinyoung then whined, making Jaebum snap back into reality.

He suppressed a chuckle realizing how the younger was slurring his words by now, the southern accent of his home town coming through a bit. Jinyoung rolled his eyes before sneaking his arms back around his neck, about to kiss him again but Jaebum leaned away.

“That's what I wanted tonight to end like anyways.” the latter then spoke into his ear, his deep voice only audible for Jinyoung.

“Oh god, Jaebum!” he groaned, burying his face into the crook of his lover's neck. “I'm really drunk and horny enough to get off on a statement like that!”

“Tell me about it!” Jaebum laughed “Head home and fuck?”

“Yes please!” Jinyoung blurted out as if he's been holding his breath until Jaebum finally said what was on his mind. “Let's bring back this stupid glass and tell the others...”

Jaebum just looked at him, slightly confused as they stepped apart. “That we're having sex?”

“No! That we're going home!” Jinyoung laughed, circling his arm around Jaebum's waist to shove his hand into the left back pocket of the elder's jeans before they pushed themselves through the dancing crowd again, way more hurried than earlier.

 

 

The door fell shut behind them with a loud thud, not that they cared about waking up the whole apartment complex at that moment.

Jinyoung let out another shamelessly lewd sound as Jaebum pushed him up against the nearest wall, kissing him hungrily, relieved to finally be able to go on with their session after a painfully long taxi ride full of sneaky hands, muffled moans and nervous glances through the rear view mirror from a seemingly distressed driver. Jaebum had almost felt pity for him. Almost. If it hadn't been for Jinyoung boldly stroking him through his tight, cocktail-sticky jeans in the backseat.

“Bedroom? Living room? Kitchen? Or... right here?” He breathed into the younger's ear after breaking the kiss for a second, the depth of his voice eliciting another groan from Jinyoung.

“Boy... we've got a brand new, king sized bed, a brand new couch, an almost untouched kitchen that still smells like fresh paint and a kid that's living here, too. What do you think?” The latter chuckled in between soft pants while grabbing Jaebum's wrists, forcing him to step back to let himself out of the corner the elder had trapped him into.

“Shhh~” Jaebum hissed, eyes widened at the mention of Yoonhee. He quickly tried shake the thoughts of his daughter away while Jinyoung used this chance to push past him completely, spinning him around in the process before clashing their bodies together again.

Jaebum was stumbling into the touch because the fast movement triggered the already present dizziness inside of his head to become stronger. Jinyoung giggled against his lips as he, too, swayed backwards a bit, pulling Jaebum along with him until his heels hit something big and heavy on the floor behind him. He gasped loudly in surprise, wobbling dangerously in his place.

“Careful there.” Jaebum breathed, grabbing Jinyoung's waist to stop him from falling over. They stayed like that for a split of a second, barely seeing but still staring at each other, almost cross eyed, the tips of their noses slightly touching as Jinyoung suddenly started giggling again. “What?”

“This is waaay too familiar.” the younger chuckled. “Everything about it.”

Only then, Jaebum realized their position, processed everything that happened during the past hour. “Wow.” he laughed before tilting his head to the side a bit, faintly brushing his lips over Jinyoung's. “I like it better though... today, I mean.”

“Why's that?” Jinyoung asked with a playful smirk, bringing one hand up to grab Jaebum's hair again. “Cause you know for sure that I'll still be here in the morning? And the morning after...?”

“That, too.” Jaebum purred, shoving his hands down the small of the younger's back until he stroked his jeans-clad butt, groping it gently. “But I was thinking of not having to carry you to the bedroom. You know the way this time.”

With another loud gasp, Jinyoung wiggled himself out of his boyfriend's hold, causing the other to ball his hands into fists, hanging his head low while letting out a frustrated sigh. Just how drunk was he to let his lover escape his grip like that?

“You're sulking now? Really?” the younger then chuckled, while walking backwards to the end of the hallway where the bedroom was located and leaned against the door frame, patting the still damp and sticky spot on his right thigh. “I found the bedroom. Now come here!”

Jaebum then grinned, no need to be told twice as he walked up to his boyfriend and pushed him into the bedroom, onto the king sized bed.

They were quick to get rid of their clothes, quick to lose themselves in each other, quick to make a sweaty mess out of the freshly washed sheets as they lost all sense of time, unaware of the nearing sunrise behind the closed curtains of their bedroom.

Jinyoung didn't care about keeping it down as he found himself in Jaebum's lap, fucking himself onto the elder's cock with his legs tightly wrapped around his waist and Jaebum didn't care about keeping it down as Jinyoung was buried deep inside of him as they came undone together for the second or the third time... or the fourth.

 

***

 

“YAH! Park Jinyoung!” Jackson yelled, making the black-haired male cringe and hold the phone away from his ear a bit. “Why weren't you answering your phone?”

“I'm sorry, Jackson. I was at work.”

“Tsk... whatever you're calling work. Mark told me that whenever he comes to buy a new book, all you do is reading children's books in a corner of the shop. And I bet when Jaebum's there, you're both groping each other behind the shelves cause you can't do that at home.” Jackson laughed, making Jinyoung gasp loudly and almost step into a big puddle right in front of him. He pulled the hood of his dark blue pullover over his head and looked up at the leaking sky, narrowing his eyes to prevent the raindrops from blurring his vision. Of course the rain had to start as soon as he left the shop, washing away all the remaining cherry blossoms of the spring season. Now it was obvious that summer was about to start soon.

“Okay so first of all we're not like you and Mark. We're keeping our PDA at bay and we especially don't perform such kinda things at our working place. And then, I _do_ _work_ there. I'm cleaning the shelves, selling books, buying new ones...”

“Yeah whatever you say, the scenes I witnessed on Saturday must've been my imagination, right? ... Anyways! I'm calling cause I wanted to give you an update on YoungJae's date from the club.”

“Thank you Jackson, but I think he's capable of telling me himself later.” Jinyoung rolled his eyes and even though they were on the phone, he tried to make sure Jackson heard him doing so.

But apparently, the latter didn't or at least ignored it as he just continued to babble. “I wouldn't be too sure about that. They're probably fucking each other's brains out right now. Sounds like it, if you ask me... Can you believe that girl hasn't left our place since Saturday night?”

“Oh my goodness!” Jinyoung groaned. “Can't you at least show some decency and leave the apartment yourself so that they can have some privacy?”

“They didn't ask for it.” Jackson defended himself. “Plus, you didn't leave the apartment either when Mark and I wanted some _privacy_.”

“Well because I was actually living there and didn't want to spend my nights on the streets of Seoul. And I always left when you asked me to or when things got too heavy... For my own sanity.”

“... Anyways! I didn't know our YoungJae is such a wild o-”

“Bye, Jackson!” Jinyoung screeched and hung up the phone before he could hear any more unwanted information about his best friend's bedroom activities.

Yet, only a few seconds later, his phone rang again.

He groaned and picked up without looking at the caller ID as the rain got a bit heaver and he didn't want to flood the screen by exposing it to the weather. “Gosh boy, can you please stop?!”

“YAH! PARK JINYOUNG! Who do you think you are, talking to your mother like that!”

“Sorry, mom.” Jinyoung called, eyes widened in shock. “I thought it's Jackson calling.”

“Since when am I Jackson?” she then laughed. “Also, he's still older than you. Show some respect, son.”

“Sure, mom.” Jinyoung sighed, now rolling his eyes in amusement.

“And while I'm already nagging... why did you even pick up your phone? Aren't you at work?”

“Why calling me when you don't want me to pick up?” Jinyoung wondered.

“I just wanted to make sure you're doing a good job earning money. Remember you've got a daughter and a husband to feed.”

“Mom!” Jinyoung gasped. “How many times do I have to tell you that: We're not and won't be married. Plus, Jaebum's working too. We're fine. I actually just got off from the bookstore to pick Yoonhee up from kindergarten.” As soon as these words left his mouth, Jinyoung couldn't help but grin to himself.

“Never say never, son.” his mother said and it was almost possible for him to hear her wink. “Just make sure to find a good job after finishing your studies in summer but I'm repeating myself... Anyways, I was calling because Yoonhee forgot Mr. Rabbit's bow tie at my house. I just found it underneath the couch. Maybe she's missing it.”

“Mr. Rabbit has a bow tie?” Jinyoung wondered.

Now his mother was laughing again. “I made it 'cause Yoonhee saw a rabbit with a bow tie at the mall on Saturday and she found it so cute that I just had to do it.”

“Obviously, nobody can say no to her puppy eyes.” Jinyoung confirmed, pushing his phone further underneath the hood to shield it from the rain as he hopped over a small puddle.

“Jaebum really did an amazing job raising her so far.” his mother then said.

“Yes he did...” Jinyoung smiled again, remembering how easy the past few months had been. It was everything but stressful like he feared in the beginning. Looking back, he actually felt stupid for almost giving up on Jaebum because of the cute, bubbly girl that came with him, for thinking that he wasn't made to live in Jaebum's world. He realized that he was quite wrong and that now, he was enjoying that world. Their world.

“Oh and Jinyoung? You're not gonna tell me how you and Jaebum spent your free weekend, am I right?” There was the audible wink again, quickly ripping him out of his cheesy thoughts.

“Actually...” Jinyoung started, trying to hold his laughter because of the white lie he was about to present to his mother. “We stayed at home and I studied for my upcoming exams. Jaebum helped me...”

It's not like he expected her to believe that.

“I hope you're well prepared then.” she said and Jinyoung tried to ignore the wink he heard this time as he took the last steps towards the heavy glass door that was decorated with little spring motives like flowers, butterflies and bunnies, shining through the raindrops on.

“I'm sure I am. But mom, I gotta hang up now.” He shoved the hood off his head, fixing his wet fringe with his free hand. “Bye bye~”

“Bye, sweetheart~ and say hi to your husband and daughter.”

“Mom!” Jinyoung whined but his mother had already ended the call. He laughed to himself, shaking some more water out of his hair and off his leather jacket before walking through the second wing door. As soon as he stepped in, he was surrounded by the sound of chattering children and the unique mixed smell of cookies and craft glue. Jinyoung took a deep breath before making his way down the hallway, secretly missing the possibility to grab Jaebum's hand while doing so.

Today didn't mark his first time entering the kindergarten. But it was his first time picking up Yoonhee without his boyfriend by his side. He grinned to himself again, thinking how ironic it was, that it was his own idea. Strolling past the doors left and right, he peeked into every room, trying to find the little girl somewhere.

“Oh hello.” one of the teachers greeted him with a friendly smile. She was watching over a few children, sprawled out on the floor while drawing pictures with colorful crayons. “I think I've seen Yoonhee in the Lego room. By the way the dress she's wearing today is super cute, really.”

“Thanks.” Jinyoung grinned. “But knowing Yoonhee, she was already knee deep in the sandbox earlier, not caring about her dress.”

The teacher laughed. “What shall I say? I tried to stop her but she wouldn't let me. Anyways, have a nice afternoon then. And please say hi to your boyfriend. Sorry about the dress, though...”

“Really, don't worry about it.” Jinyoung said, now also chuckling as he really knew the little girl too well by now. “But thanks for the hint.” With that, he exited the room again.

And of course it was the last room down the hallway, where Yoonhee and Minah sat on the floor, building a Lego house. Jinyoung walked up to them, about to make himself noticeable when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. A little boy sitting on the other side of the room looked like he was about to holler out that someone came to pick Yoonhee up but Jinyoung quickly silenced him by pressing his finger onto his lips. The boy nodded hastily before going back to play with his Lego car and Jinyoung turned around again, taking another step towards Yoonhee and Minah. He didn't know what the girls' previous conversation was about but what he heard made him break into a wide grin.

Yoonhee was twirling one of her braids as she spoke up again. “My papa is also great. He is super smart and he can make me look like Anna. Oh and he is really good at reading stories!”

“I'm flattered, little one.” Jinyoung then chuckled while crouching down next to the girls, not bothering to cover his smile with his hand like he usually did.

“Papa!!” Yoonhee called, dropping the colorful bricks she's had in her free hand as she jumped up and threw her short arms around him, making Jinyoung sway a bit backwards.

She has been calling him papa for a few months already, but he still felt a bit of pride swelling up inside of him. If being her second daddy was great, then the moment he got upgraded to be her papa was almost overwhelming. Her reasoning was simple: second daddy was just too long, but in that moment, even Jaebum had laughed at the ridiculously happy smile on Jinyoung's face before the four of them, including Mr. Rabbit, broke into a family hug.

“Hey there.” Jinyoung grinned, ruffling her hair. “Ready to go home?”

Yoonhee nodded quickly. “But first you have to see the house I made!”

“Okay, okay.” Jinyoung laughed, looking down at the Lego building in front of them.

“See? It looks like our new house. This is my room and this is yours and daddy's room and there is the living room and here is the kitchen.” Yoonhee pointed at the different rooms.

“You're right. It looks good.” Jinyoung said, ruffling her hair again before getting up from his crouching position again. Seeing how excited Yoonhee was about their new apartment, he remembered his mission again. The reason why he was currently sitting in the kindergarten's Lego room without Jaebum by his side. “Now come. Daddy's cooking today. I think I heard something about noodles...”

“Yay, noodles!” Yoonhee exclaimed and hopped onto her feet as well, tugging on Jinyoung's wet sleeve. “Then let's go home, I'm already hungry. Bye-bye Minah.”

“Bye-bye!” the other girl waved back before Yoonhee grabbed her papa's hand and pulled him towards the door.

But that's when his phone went off once more. Jinyoung groaned in annoyance as he let go of Yoonhee's hand again to quickly take the phone out of his pocket to make it stop ringing through the otherwise almost peacefully quiet room.

“I swear if that is Jackson...” he mumbled to himself but shut up the moment he saw Jaebum's name on the screen. He smiled and patted Yoonhee's butt, telling her to go and get her coat and her bag before he picked up the call, slowly following her.

“Hey babe.” his lover greeted him, making Jinyoung's knees go weak for a second at how much he sounded like talking with his deep, raspy morning voice. “Have you already picked up Yoonhee?”

“We're still at the kindergarten.” Jinyoung said, leaning against the wall in the hallway, right next to where the children's clothes were hanging on stuffed coat hooks. “And what about you? You sound like you've been sleeping all day instead of working.”

Jaebum gasped before laughing. “Of course not! I just didn't feel like talking to Mr. Rabbit today so we spent the day in comfortable silence. Anyways... the rain's pretty heavy, right? Make sure Yoonhee doesn't forget her umbrella.”

“Sure thing.” Jinyoung nodded, glancing at Yoonhee who had already grabbed her Frozen-themed umbrella and put it on the floor in front of her, next to her Frozen-themed bag. Jinyoung was sure that if it wasn't for the huge cat-shaped key chain Jaebum had attached on it, she'd never know which one of all these Frozen-themed bags was hers. “You're done so far?”

“Yep. Everything's ready.” Jaebum said cheerfully. “Can't wait for Yoonhee to see her new room.... But wait, babe... do you even have an umbrella?”

“Don't worry, we're gonna be home soon. I can deal with the rain.” Jinyoung assured him with a grin.

“Alright, babe. See you. I'll be waiting for you with a towel.”

Jaebum ended the call there and Jinyoung put his phone away again, giving his full attention to Yoonhee again. The little girl was sitting on the bench beneath her name tag, swinging her legs up and down. “That was daddy, right?”

“Uh-huh. How do you know?” Jinyoung smiled as he sat down to help her wearing her flower-patterned rubber boots.

“You're smiling your daddy smile.”

“My... daddy smile?” He looked at her in disbelieve, freezing in his movement of putting her .

“Your daddy smile. You're always smiling like that when you're talking to daddy.” Yoonhee giggled and Jinyoung swore that this was the first time ever a girl made him blush in the color of the pinkest cherry blossoms currently swimming in the puddles outside on the streets. “Daddy has a papa smile too. He smiles like that in the morning sometimes.”

“He WHAT?!” Jinyoung spluttered, almost falling back. He had to correct himself now. His blush wasn't anywhere near a pink cherry blossom. It most probably was like a full blown tomato right now.

Yoonhee just grinned innocently as if she didn't just expose her fathers in a crowded kindergarten. Jinyoung gaped at her before looking at all the kids running around, hoping that none of them actually heard it. Much less any teachers...

“Oh god...” he sighed, trying to bite back an embarrassed chuckle as he pulled up the zipper of Yoonhee's rain coat. He then got up and handed Yoonhee her umbrella, threw her bag over his own shoulder and grabbed her tiny hand. “Let's go home.”

Yoonhee hummed, nodding excitedly while jumping up and down as they went towards the exit. “Is daddy making his super noodle sauce?”

“Of course.” Jinyoung laughed at her antics.

“But papa, it's raining outside... don't you have an umbrella?”

“Nah, I forgot it this morning...”

“Don't worry, we can share mine then.” Yoonhee smiled.

Jinyoung knew they couldn't because it was way too small but still, he couldn't help but grin like an idiot at that. Yes, the little girl had him wrapped around her finger within no time – just like her father.

 

 

“Daddy, we're home!” Yoonhee called as she rushed past Jinyoung into the apartment, leaving a trail of wet footprints down the hallway.

“Yoonhee, stop! Your boots are-” Jinyoung tried but Jaebum already jumped into her way and scooped her up with his left arm. “-muddy.”

“Hey, princess.” Jaebum greeted her, carrying the little girl back towards the entrance where Jinyoung was already taking off his soaked shoes and the leather jacket. Jaebum threw a towel over his head. “Geez, babe! You're totally drenched.”

“No sh- really?” Jinyoung coughed out, rubbing the towel over his hair as a now chuckling Jaebum put Yoonhee down to sit on a box next to the door. He then knelt down in front of her, taking off her dirty boots and the dripping coat before she could flood the whole apartment with it.

“Papa said you made noodles.” Yoonhee said when Jaebum stroked down the sleeves of her dress, trying to figure out whether the rain got through the coat. Seeing that it didn't, he patted her head and got up again.

“I did.” he nodded, glancing over at Jinyoung with a smirk as Yoonhee got up as well. “But why don't you go to your room first and say hello to Mr. Rabbit? He's waiting for you there.”

Yoonhee hummed, a bit confused, and padded down the hallway towards the door with her name spelled in colorful stickers on it.

“And here comes the big surprise.” Jaebum whispered and grabbed Jinyoung's wrist that was still covered with the wet sleeve of his dark blue hoodie. He pulled the younger with him, following the little girl who let out a loud, high-pitched scream as soon as she stepped into the room.

“Ahhh it's pretty~ I love it!!” Yoonhee called, running right towards the bed that was covered with soft looking pillows and blankets and of course, all of Yoonhee's favorite plushies. She crawled on top of the pillows and grabbed Mr. Rabbit before looking around the room. Right above the bed, there was a light blue canopy which was draped around the headboard. The walls were painted in white and next to the bed, Jaebum and Jinyoung had struggled but eventually managed to apply a wallpaper with light blue stripes on it. “It's just like the room from the magazine! I love it! I love it!” the little girl cheered, gaze wandering towards the pin-board on the other side of the room where Jaebum had just put the last photos before Yoonhee and Jinyoung came home. Jinyoung immediately recognized the one that used to be Jaebum's profile picture on Kakao when they exchanged numbers back then. Another one being Jaebum and Yoonhee covered in BamBam's jewelry or the three of them on the day they first went to the zoo together.

“I'm amazed you actually managed to finish it today. I thought I'll have to do some more things tomorrow while you're at work.” Jinyoung then said, proceeding to scan the room he had painted together with Jaebum on Sunday, terribly hungover after BamBam's birthday party and completely fucked out from their activities afterwards. But let's not talk about that right now. They managed to paint this room and that was all that counted. That and of course the happy smile on Yoonhee's face as she was bouncing up and down on her new bed.

“Took us long enough.” Jaebum said as he watched his daughter squealing over Elsa's bed that was now perfectly fitting beside hers before she took off to explore her new room in detail. “My favorite thing about it is that there's room for her Lego in here. There's no need for it to be in the living room anymore.”

Jinyoung let out an almost soft laughter. “I'm glad I won't have to worry about my feet now. But do you want my honest thoughts on what's my favorite thing about all of this? That we're having the bedroom to ourselves now.”

“I kinda hate to admit that you're right there.” Jaebum grinned, glancing over towards his boyfriend. “And now grab yourself some dry clothes so you won't get sick.”

“Sure, daddy.” Jinyoung deadpanned, playfully whipping Jaebum's butt with the towel, making the elder choke on air, laughing but also shocked by the lewd comment.

“Were you out in the rain as well, daddy? You're coughing...” Yoonhee wondered, looking up from the chest of drawers underneath the pin-board where she was opening every drawer to see what was inside.

Jaebum coughed out another laughter. “No, princess. I'm perfectly fine.”

“Okay.” Yoonhee beamed and continued to look through her own clothes and toys, trying to find everything in its new place.

“By the way... my mom said hi.” Jinyoung chuckled. “She called earlier cause Yoonhee forgot Mr. Rabbit's bow tie.”

“Mr. Rabbit has a bow tie?”

“Apparently. And I thanked her again for taking care of the little one while we were studying.”

Jaebum broke into another laughter. “Studying?”

“Well I couldn't tell her we were out, got drunk, made good use of our king sized bed and had to paint our daughter's room all hungover the next day, right?”

“No? I don't know what you're talking about...” Jaebum cheekily winked at him before throwing a short glance at Yoonhee. Jinyoung immediately felt reminded of how he used to check her bedroom door back then when they still met up in secret. When they didn't know what to make out of their relationship and where things would lead them. But now he also knew what was to come when Jaebum's eyes settled back onto him and the elder leaned in for a kiss. “Then I'll gladly tell you we can actually study more often from now on. Because I got accepted as a literature major.” he then whispered against his lips before grinning at him.

Jinyoung's jaw dropped and he let out a loud, happy gasp, about to pull Jaebum in for another kiss.

“Look, papa? This is daddy's papa smile!” Yoonhee suddenly squeaked next to them, making the couple literally jump apart in surprise.

“What is a papa smile?” Jaebum wondered, easily distracted by his daughter grabbing the leg of his pants.

“The way you smile when talking to me... and sometimes in the morning. Apparently, I have a daddy smile too.” Jinyoung explained, making Jaebum's eyes widen in realization.

“In... the morning?”

Yoonhee nodded and grinned, proud to have observed her father that precisely. “But only sometimes while making breakfast.”

“Oh that... you know, princess... that's just my breakfast smile.” Jaebum smiled without a hint of nervousness in his voice but his hand rubbing his neck told Jinyoung otherwise. “Anyone who wants noodles?”

**Author's Note:**

> *exhales loudly*
> 
> soooo... this.... is it and I REALLY hope you liked it!!! please tell me, did you? did you not? why? xD BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!!!
> 
> Oh and there's one more thing:  
> There's nothing I hate more than stretching a story with useless drama and plot twists and thousands of scenes without any impact on the plot. BUT it's really hard for me to let go of it and so many of you told me on AFF that you feel the same and that's why I came up with an idea.
> 
> There are still a lot of fluffy and maybe even not so fluffy scenes I wanted to write but never did. 
> 
> So here's my question for you, my lovely readers:
> 
> Is there a scene you've always wanted to read in this story? It can be from before Jaebum met Jinyoung, how he managed to raise Yoonhee, it can be a scene of their daily life now, how Jinyoung's mother met Yoonhee, what exacly happened in Jaebum's and Jinyoung's first night together, another awkward moment between Jinyoung and the little one... whatever you want - just tell me and I'll try to write a short drabble about it! Or just ask me a question about the story - I'll gladly answer it ^-^ I can't wait to see what you wanna read/know~~~
> 
> (but please note: I won't write a drabble about Yoonhee's mother. I'll answer questions but she doesn't play a role in this story for a reason and I'd love to keep it that way. She's a bad woman, we don't need her in our lives! xD also, I strongly dislike overly jealous boyfriends.)
> 
>  
> 
> ~IHaveRuinedMyLife <3


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